Redefined
by Volleys-chan
Summary: Rewrite of the story Tails of a Lineage. Naruto makes a simple wish to grow up with a family. Watch as his life gets redefined when his upbringing leads him to a nomadic life of a Fox Sage. Will he return to Konoha and save those he once knew? R
1. How to Become Redefined

Hello Ladies and Gents! I know that you are wondering what the heck this is. This isn't the way the story started before! But alas, I didn't think the beginning did the story justice. It left too many open ends and not enough questions answered, so I am rewriting the story one chapter at a time. I will be working on my other stories as well, but mostly Gashin: Artistic Instinct. That is my newest one and might I say my greatest story yet. Not a lot of OC in it that are important- actually none- and one good love story! But you got to be open to the possibilities of all sorts of pairings. Like DeiSaku. That one I think works the best, but I also have been reading HidanSakura and PeinSakura and even a MadaraSakura... that one was interesting...

I am also changing the name from Tails of a Lineage to Redefined since it sort of works better...

But anyway done with the ranting... Here is the remake of Chapter one!

Enjoy!!

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**_Redefined_  
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**Chapter 1**

_How to become Redefined_

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

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The field was empty, but it looked as if it had seen better days. Nothing living dared enter, not even the animals of the forest dared to even go there. There was only death to those on this particular fields since it marked the borders of the Fire nation and the Sound nation and its allies.

However, there was one living creature that dwelled nearby. In a foxhole, that was used as cover in the unforgiving area, was a young shinobi with a Konoha Hitai-ite. He scanned the area with a trained blue eyes and gritted his teeth when he saw nothing.

Nothing could be good, or nothing could be bad. The shinobi ran his fingers through his long blonde hair and grumbled to no one as he continued to scan the area.

"You'd think they'd send someone with a better attention span," He muttered to himself as he sighed hopelessly.

Something, though no one else could hear it, responded to his grumblings. It was deep and powerful, but the voice usually fell on deaf ears besides this one blonde.

**_'You'd think that, but they are probably just getting back at you for drinking again, kit.' _**The voiced mused.

The man just snorted as he muttered, "Shut it, you old fox"

The voice just rumbled with a laughing sound as the blonde sage went back to scanning.

**_'Oh, how the mighty have fallen,'_** the Kyuubi teased, **_'The great Namikazi Naruto, Toad Sage and hero of Konoha during the times of Akatsuki, humbled by _guard_ duty.'_**

_'I asked nicely, don't make me start getting cruel on you,' _Naruto hissed as he gazed about.

**_'Like you could be mean. If memory serves, you cried when you hurt an innocent bunny.'_**

_'I was _twelve! _I still hadn't killed anybody!!!' _Naruto argued as he looked about the field again.

It was then that he saw her. She was wearing white robes and nothing could be seen other then her blue eyes, but she was walking calmly in the no man's land. On her side, there was a female figure with white hair and gloriously icy blue eyes and the most doll like features he had ever seen and on the white clad woman's other side stood a tall man wearing similar garbs. On his other side another female around the same age as the white haired beauty with a more rugged beauty. She looked like a warrior who had faced the harshest battles and won.

Naruto was about to set off the traps as he saw them walk closer, but the Kyuubi rebuked him the moment that it had crossed his thoughts.

**_'Don't do it kit, that is Marrow no Ookami. She is a glorified being in the realm of Youkais and you better not offset her temper. She has a rather short one since her eldest son's death.' _**The Kyuubi reprimanded him.

_'So you know of her?'_

**_'Yes, her beginnings are legendary! You best not interfere with such a Hanyou as she.'_**

Naruto did nothing as they walked closer. He could see her staring at him, though he was hidden in the foxhole, and it looked like she was… judging him.

But why would she judge him?

It confused Naruto as he saw the others also look his way. The white haired beauty looked at him with a sort of approving air, while the black haired warrior looked at him with a different sort of approval. One maybe as a possible mate, the other as a possible opponent, but both females looking at him.

Then he felt the chakra enter his body for a split second before retreating and turned his gaze at the man. He too looked at him like he was worthy.

"Harm us not and we harm you not, young Jinchuuriki," a young female voice called to him.

He blinked as he realized it had come from the garbed woman. She could tell he was a jinchuuriki just by looking at him. He glowered a bit at being called a Jinchuuriki, but at least they knew better then call him Kyuubi.

"And why should I not attack?" He questioned in a strong tone, "You are traveling from Sound, and Sound has been at war with the Fire Nation for several years now."

"Because I am a resident of Konoha." The woman replied, "I need to go to my Hokage and speak with her about what I have learned. It troubles me that Sound has been the way it has."

**_'Trust her. She is one to be trusted,'_** The Kyuubi stated in the back of Naruto's mind.

_'Why should I trust her. I do not recognize her as a resident of Konoha nor do I remember meeting anyone like her company.'_

**_'That is because she is before your time. As I have said. She is Marrow no Ookami and she is the messenger of the Youkai. The male is her mate, Ryuuki of Makurayami. Both were residents of Konoha since the time of the first Hokage and Mandara. Let them pass kit, no good can come of denying her of her wish.'_**

Naruto growled a bit. The rumble in his throat sounded more animalistic then even a Inuzuka could do, but it was a obvious trait he inherited from the Kyuubi being apart of him.

"Pass onto the borders safely, Marrow no Ookami, but I swear, cause our us problems and I will hunt you down myself to see justice is served." Naruto said as he disabled the traps.

The woman and her crew just nodded. The crossed silently and swiftly. Marrow, the white clad woman, looked back at the foxhole and laughed loudly so he could hear.

"How appropriate that you should be in a fox hole dear Namikazi-san. Send your regards to the Kyuubi, the old trickster. I pray we meet again. You seem to be an… interesting one." Marrow said as she laughed a bit more of her silvery bell laugh before they disappeared.

**_'…Oh Kami, she _liked_ you.'_ **The Kyuubi stated in a rather shocked tone.

_'What? Doesn't she normally like people?' _Naruto asked as he reset the traps.

**_'No, she absolutely hates most humans because of their treatment of her. You know, she was a Jinchuuriki before she became a Hanyou.'_**

_'She was?' _That peaked Naruto's interest, _'Tell me! How did she come to be? She sounds so young! Is her Hanyou blood give her the young appearance or is it like Tsunade-baa-chan's ability?'_

The Kitsune Youkai laughed at the twenty-three year old's interest. Naruto, whenever interested in something, would revert back into a twelve year old and beg for anything that he could get. But Naruto needed to know this. It was rather important for him to better understand the Youkai realm and its messengers.

**_'Very well kit, I will tell you about Marrow no Ookami.' _**The Kyuubi said as he began his story, **_'It began before Marrow no Ookami was even born. Her body had been conceived and grew in the womb of her mother, but she had yet to be born. At that time there lived a Ookami Youkai named Marrow of the Nightmare Gates. The Nightmare Gate was a under-realm gate that lead to the Youkai's realm. Good Youkais guarded the gates and protected the humans from other Youkai that may wish harm on them, but sometimes that meant to attack humans who got too close. Marrow of the Nightmare Gate had been forced to kill many a humans for their foolishness._**

**_She had no mate of her equivalence and was the daughter of one of the Youkai lords, Howl no Kisetsufuu. He was said to control the weather around him to do his bidding. Marrow herself was special and that was why none could match her. That is, until she met a man._**

**_He was blind when he found his way to her and was taken pity on by Marrow as she listened to his story of how he had become blind. His tale of his brother's greed and his selflessness, brought Marrow to a decision as she merged his body with one of her fallen comrade's dying body. He was born anew as a Hanyou and she gave him a new name: Ryuuki no Makurayami.'_**

_'Wasn't the man with Marrow no Ookami that very man?'_

**_'Yes. Marrow of the Nightmare Gates had given him life anew and he chose to serve her. However, one day while he and the other wolves here protecting their land from the intruding Youkai, shinobi came to ride the village nearby of Marrow. The saw her as a threat and lied that she was killing their people, so the shinobi came to solve the problem._**

**_It had been an amazing battle as she killed all the men that attacked her. She was dangerous and swift to end a life. She would have won as well if her own forest had not attacked her. In that brief moment, the First Hokage cut off her head and waited for her to die._**

**"You fool,"_ She finally said to him, _"You kill the guardian of a gate because of a bunch of lies. I can only guess what has brought you here and I demand that you give me repayment for your harm."**

**_The First was surprised at her bluntness and begged for her to forgive them for they had been deceived._**

**"Take my head and bring it back with you. I will not die for another several weeks and I wish to seal myself in a unborn child. You owe me as much. The child will grow and one day take my place as Guardian of the Nightmare Gate. You own me as much you human."**

**_The First Hokage did as she commanded and took her severed head back with him. To everyone else, it was a prize, to him, the head was that of a brave Ookami Youkai. As the weeks went by, he showed all the families who were expecting the head. As long as she remain quiet, he knew she had not chosen. It surprised him one day when she had spoken._**

**"That child is to be born dead in the future days," _she spoke finally after one of his sister's daughter left._**

**_His sister had been born of Uchiha and Senju both. A peace baby if you will. Her daughter in turn fell in love with a Hyuuga and this was to be their first born. It was because Marrow loved life that she decided that this would be the child she became apart of. The First Hokage was rather sneaky as he told his niece the news. She at first was upset by the thought that her baby was to be a stillborn. Too many bloodline traits for one child to handle without large amounts of chakra. However, she was happy at the offer._**

**_Soon Marrow's head no longer lived, but the child had become a Jinchuuriki. Marrow telling the Hokage step by step for a perfect sealing. 'The baby developed well in the womb of her mother and during the time of the young woman's pregnancy, Ryuuki had located his Alpha's chakra but feared to enter because he thought the tribe would recognize him as the blind rouge ninja he had been before meeting Marrow and getting altered by the youki from her comrade. So in the shadow's he watched the mother's development until the day of birth. That day was very dark for Konoha. It was then that one of the shinobi wars occurred. _**

**_During one of the many battles the mother began having contractions and there was no one to defend the medic ninjas as they tried to deliver the puppy. That is when he appeared out of nowhere and defended the Leaf Ninjas while the focused on the delivery. He, though blind, defended the others from 50 ninjas singlehandedly. And yes that really happened. The woman had the small child and thanked the hanyou by letting him hold her newborn baby; she even asked him to name the new life that he defended. There she was, the in his hands, the blind ninja pulsated his chakra though the baby checking to see if she was healthy. He sensed his mistress in there and listened to the commands of his leader._**

**"Watch the child, teach her when she becomes older, but stay out of sight till then. Name her whatever you please."**

**_He then decided to name the young baby Marrow no Ookami, for on that day wolves would be her affinity…' _**The Kyuubi finished as he became ready for Naruto's questioning.

_'That's it?'_

**_'That is about it on her history known to Youkai. After that, she just became a messenger. I have been stuck in you so that's all I know. Those two woman with her were probably her daughters. I only know about her son's death because of the mourning the wolves preformed the day of his death.'_**

_'When did he die?'_ Naruto asked as he looked over to the area he had last seen the woman and her pack.

**_'About the time you were turning 14. Ingenious Hanyou, from what the wolves cried, that was said to be the greatest healer in the lands. Only person he could not heal was himself. But let us not dwell on those who have passed. Let us dwell on your duty.'_**

"Awww, but my duty is no fun," Naruto grumbled as he pouted to no one.

"Duty is often no fun, but that is just apart of being a shinobi," A voice rebuked him from above.

"Eh?" Naruto said as he sniffed the air, "Neji-kun. You know you're lucky I didn't kill you out of reflex."

Neji's laugh could be heard as Naruto wiggled free of the foxhole and glared at the Hyuuga. Neji just smiled as he looked at Naruto with a amused gleam in his eye.

"You wouldn't kill your cousin now would you? I mean what would dear little Hinata-chan say about that?" He teased with a smirk.

"She'd just say 'no bad Naruto' and 'Don't do it again'," Naruto teased back as he grined his signature grin.

"Maybe I should report you for talking to yourself again," Neji chuckled, "Then you'd get to spend a lot of time with Anko. You know she loves you very much."

"No, she loves the fact that she could probably rip off my arm and I'd just regenerate it," Naruto retorted, "You're sense of humor is still rather lousy. Who taught you anyways?"

"Why, it was my cousin," Neji said as he got into the hole, "You know her very well, since, after all, you married her."

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto squeaked, unbelieving that such a sensitive woman could actually teach someone how to be funny like that, "Are you sure Hanabi just didn't take over her body to teach you? Cause Hinata is too innocent to say those kind of things."

Neji's laugh could be heard in the fox hole as he said one final thing before Naruto headed out, "You know, it's the quiet ones you have to look out for."

Naruto had to chuckle as he headed out and back to Konoha. Even though Konoha had taken a pretty big beating, it was still just as beautiful to Naruto. That was were all his precious people lived.

He steadied his pace so that he reached the gate in four days. The gates were a little worn from war, but they kept strong and the village safe. He swiftly greeted the guards on duty and made a swift beeline to the hospital to say hello to several of his favorite women.

Sakura was the first of the females that he met. She was in the lobby tending to one of the shinobis. It was a Hyuuga by the pearl lavender color of his eyes. The war had left few surviving. Hanabi, the pride of the main house didn't even last as long as the 'failure' older sibling. 

He happily waited for her to retract her chakra before pouncing onto her and giving her a giant bear hug. She was like a sister to him. She had been there for him ever since Sasuke made it clear he had no intentions of ever coming back. She did however beat anyone silly for ever mentioning the chicken butt haired man's name, so Naruto usually got beat senseless once a week because he often forgot not to mention him.

"Ah! Naruto," Sakura yipped as she tried to break free of the six foot tall man's grip, "You reek! What did you just come back from? Sitting in crap?"

"No, living in a foxhole for a good ten days, why?" Naruto replied with a teasing grin.

She broke his hold and snagged his long hair and pulled him towards the showers.

"You smell horrible and I will not allow you to visit Hinata if you smell like this! It is unsanitary and Hinata's room cannot be contaminated," She lectured as she opened up the door, snapped on the hot water, and pushed Naruto in clothes and all.

"Hey!" He yelped as the hot water scalded his skin, "These are the only clothes I have with me!"

"Don't come out till you are clean!" She ordered with her hands on her hips, "Clean clothes will be waiting when you get out."

"Nah, I think I'll run around in the nude. That will be the highlight of all the ladies' day huh?" Naruto said, stripping off his orange and black jacket and black muscle shirt.

Sakura eyes went wide for a minute before replying, trying to think of what that would look like, "Sorry," she apologized once getting back her natural mindset, "I just threw up in my mouth."

She darted out before Naruto could manage to strip his wet pants off of his body. She could hear him laughing to himself proudly. She suppressed a giggle. Naruto was like a brother to her and she wouldn't trade what they had for the world, or at least not for Sasuke's affection as she might have once upon a time.

Naruto just scrubbed himself in the scalding water, getting off the wrecked stench he knew he had and mentally scratched one person off his list of people to visit.

The War had left very few of his buddies alive. Even genins straight out of the Academy were forced to join the battle and many of their lives ended before they had even begun. The people that still lived were either the smartest and most cunning shinobi alive, or just plain lucky. He chuckled to himself as he recognized him and Kiba and possibly Lee were in that category.

Friends that once filled their favorite diner with laughter had begun to disappear one after another till only Shikamaru, Kiba, Sakura, Lee, Neji, Konohamaru, Gaara, and occasionally Hinata and Temari remained of the once huge group. It was hard, but they had all come to terms that no one lived forever and if they did, they were very lucky.

Naruto's mind flashed the image of Marrow no Ookami. She was old, but since she was a Hanyou, she lived a long time. Her mate even looked barely over 25. Naruto just sighed as he thought about living that kind of life. It must have been hard to watch friends die. Perhaps that was why it was only her and her family traveling together, since they lived a very long time. 

But then again, she also still couldn't escape death.

The Kyuubi had made it clear that her eldest son died a few years back. Even immortals were susceptible to death. That alone would scare anyone.

_'I'm just thinking too hard,'_ Naruto thought as he began to scrub his hair, _'Immorality and death, I best just let it be and think of the here and now… And Hinata…'_

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Naruto heavily sniffed the clean clothes that Sakura had left out for him. They smelled of disinfectant and lavenders. He smiled as he put them on. Standardized ANBU black pants and a mesh shirt under a black muscles shirt. He slipped on the slippers and checked himself in the bathroom mirror. His hair was dry, but a royal mess. It was long and spiky and went whatever way it wished. It didn't defy gravity or anything like everyone else joked it could, but tangled and in need of a good brushing.

_'Hinata will like that,'_ he thought smugly to himself as he headed off to see his bride.

It didn't take him long to find the room. She was always put in the same room since she was always having some sort of health problems. He blamed that on her witnessing Shino and Ino being tortured to death. She had come back an emotional wreak and would some times slip back into those phases.

He opened the door with a huge grin on his face as he looked at his pale eyed princess.

"Hey pretty lady what are you doing tonight?" He asked coolly as he sat on he bed.

She said nothing a first but began to feel his face and body as if forcing herself to memorize every little detail of him just incase it was for the last time. She stopped when she reached the hair. Her lavender pale eyes sparkled as she looked into his bright blue eyes, "It's longer than last time."

"Yeah, well, I know you are addicted to playing with Sakura's so I decided that I want you to play with my hair instead. I get jealous when you are too absorbed in Sakura or even Neji to notice me," Naruto said with an overdramatized pout.

She laughed lightly as she began to twist a lock of his hair with her finger, "Naruto, it is utterly impossible for me to ignore you. I will always be over aware of you. I love you, remember?"

"Yeah I know," Naruto mumbled as he reclined in her lap. His eyes grew heavy as Hinata's fingers played with his hair, lulling him to sleep.

She kept quiet so he could sleep while he could. Darkness though, at the same time, was closing in on her; her time on this world was nearing its end chapter, but not before she delivered her last gift to Naruto. She felt her stomach for signs of the life within and meekly smiled as she got her response.

Her last light, her last hope for her slumbering husband. He always loved seeing families roam around the park or streets when they were younger, in happier times. She knew Naruto had always wished for a family growing up. She had to give him his wish. She winced as her heart fluttered a bit.

Her time was short and she knew it.

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It had been two hours before Sakura kicked Naruto out of his wife's room. He whined and acted like a child as he tried to get by her impossible reflexes.

He eventually gave up when she used her monstrous power to knock his block down the hall. Naruto decided he was done messing with the death gods for the day and retreated to his favorite diner.

Ramen and BBQ beef, that was the specialty of the combined restaurant. Ichiraku's had become too small for all its customers so Chouji's favorite restaurant became the group's favorite place after Ichiraku became the owner in a hostile take over. The old man left the BBQ part alone and even had the previous staff stay, but now he could hold Naruto's party and serve them all at the same time.

By the time Naruto got there Kiba and Lee had already started to drink. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and muttered something about the duo being troublesome. Lee then wrapped his arm around Shikamaru's neck and began to sing about how pretty he felt.

Kiba was already on the ground laughing his head off at this scene; he always had had a higher tolerance to alcohol then Lee, but then again he was just as bad when he got drunk.

Naruto sat next to Shikamaru and ordered his ramen.

For Naruto, drinking was voted as a **_'no no'_** by Hinata, Sakura, Sai –when he was still with them-, Ino, Neji, Tenten, and Gaara. Naruto was not about to go against the wrath of the three remaining people he held so dear. He did sometimes slip a couple of cups, but not enough to get intoxicated. That was when he got in major trouble.

So what if he had accidently mistaken Neji for his wife that one time he got intoxicated?

Neji never bothered him again when he ordered sake, even if it was just to get the guy away from him or to get a laugh from his reaction.

"Naruto haven't seen you around. I'm guessing Neji is on patrol now." Shikamaru wasn't really asking.

"Yeah, his turn to not have the security of good hygiene for a week." Naruto sniggered. He looked a Shikamaru as he tried to get the singing Lee off of his personnel, "Need help?"

"Please!" Shikamaru said as he tried to shake the guy off, "Old Yeller over there isn't helping much so at least one friend should come to my rescue. After all isn't that what troublesome comrades are for?"

Naruto's head flung as he laughed heartily. He grabbed Shika and pulled him into his arms and away from Lee's and held him tightly.

"Sorry Lee but he is mine." Naruto said way too seriously for Shikamaru. Lee grumbled a bit but decided to try the 'flames of youth' on Kiba.

"Naruto can you let go?" Shikamaru said monotony as he struggled to get free once again.

Naruto held on tighter against the frequent disapproving comments from the tactical genius. Eventually he did let go when the Shadow-user reverted to biting. Naruto would have persisted if his miso ramen hadn't shown up.

Naruto listened to his friends' stories about what they had been up to and Konohamaru even showed up for his grub. The spitfire teen was one of the few who had lived this long. Though some of his luck was at the cost of his comrade's lives.

All was well until Sakura came running in.

"Something is wrong with Hinata!!!" She yelled.

As quickly as she had come, she headed back to the hospital to be of assistance to the other medic nin.

Shikamaru and Konohamaru jumped up and rushed to the door, but they couldn't match the speed of the frightened husband. By the time they had gotten to the hospital, Naruto was there, rubbing the cold hand of his wife. Shikamaru kept the teen out as Naruto said goodbye to his love.

Sakura emerged from the room and closed the door so Naruto couldn't hear. Shikamaru had a question and she knew what it was.

"Heart failure," She muttered, "her old wound from Neji had been getting worse, but she couldn't tell Naruto. She told us not to tell him so neither can you guys."

"So what about the, ano, surprise?" Shikamaru said low.

Sakura shook her head, "it wasn't ready and thus was lost along with her. If we had the means to do a heart transplant she might have lived. But…"

"Sakura, not even Tsunade-hime could perform a heart surgery. She can only use mediums to heal the already wounded organ. It is impossible to successfully transplant a heart. At least it is right now." Konohamaru whispered quietly, he had heard it all before. He knew Naruto had keen hearing when he wanted so decided to keep his voice low.

"Yeah, well, still, I wish there had been more we could do. At least have kept her alive longer…"Sakura trailed off as Naruto came out of the room.

Tears were still flowing down his face as he looked at the ground, "I'm going to go relieve Neji of his post so he can say goodbye."

"Wait! You can't just go out there! You need to go get some rest!" Sakura argued as she firmly grabbed his arm, "Hinata didn't want you to throw your life away."

"Yeah, well, unlike all of you she was all I ever had in terms of a family, she was my only family and now she is GONE!! My 'life' just died along with my beloved wife, so let me go!" Naruto yelled as he ripped his arm away from Sakura. It wasn't till Konohamaru yelled 'Look out' did he realize the hospital was being attacked.

In that blur of a moment, Sakura, Konohamaru, Shikamaru were all gone and Naruto was barely remaining. A kunai knife with an explosive tag had lodged itself in Naruto's heart and exploded. To Naruto, the light of the world was fading fast. Naruto could feel the Kyuubi's chakra surging through his body but it wasn't good enough to heal the non-existing heart. As Naruto last breath came he heard a voice not familiar to him.

**_"Little one" _**The voiced called as everything went white.

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_Naruto gasped as he saw the sewer around him, the Kyuubi's cage right behind him with an equally surprised Kyuubi. Before him in a white glow was a humanoid fox with nine foxtails waving about behind her. Her appearance was hidden by the light that came from her, but he would see her eyes were red, unlike the Kyuubi's whose eyes were a golden color._

**_"Little one you have suffered great loss," _**_The form said with a sad gleam in her eyes._

_"It is part of being a human I guess," Naruto muttered as he stared at her, "I just wish it didn't have to be like this…"_

**_"Oh? How would you have it if you could do it all over again? More power? More skill? More foresight?" _**_The woman asked with her bell like voice._

_"No, not with just things that greedy humans want to further themselves… But maybe things would have been different- come out right- if I had been born with a family that loved me, the Kyuubi, and the burden I bare," Naruto explained as he looked down, "A family is all I've ever wanted…"_

**_"So you have wished, so I will grant. You asked for something that many think trivial, so I am going to grant you more then just a family. You will be blessed with many a things, but for now, let us start with starting your life a new." _**_The form said with a joyous tone._

**_"Dear Mother of all Foxes," _**_The Kyuubi addressed the form, **"May I be as bold as to ask something of you as well?"**_

**_"It is bold of you my son, but you have sacrificed much for my sake so speak and you shall be heard."_**

**_"My wish is that you do not burden this kitling with the memories of this life."_**

_"What! No you stupid fox! Don't do this! I can give everyone their happy endings! I can save Sasuke from the darkness and make Sakura-chan happy! I can keep Neji's father from dying so he doesn't hate Hinata! Please! No!" Naruto argued with the two Kitsune Youkai._

**_"See what I mean? Too much burden on one human soul. So I would request that I keep my memories so that I can help him change some things for the better."_**

**_"You do not wish for your freedom?"_**

**_"No, I am content living here in the young kitling. Just make sure to help him become a Hanyou and recreate this dingy mindscape."_**

_The female Youkai laughed as she nodded. Naruto would have continued to argue, but with another flash of white light all three of them disappeared with her words still lingering._

**_"So you have wished, so I have granted. Take care my son and my young kitling, your story shall be redefined!"_**

And just like that, things started over anew…

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So here is the first rewritten chapter? Yes? No? Hate the new Title? Tell me what you think oh great reviewers!!! I wish to know!!!

By the way, I wanted to let you know that my other stories are pretty interesting as well. I am in the middle of a poll and you should vote! That doesn't mean that if you hate the pairing you should judge it that way... No... You'll never broaden you horizon if you are just stuck on one pairing! Read the idea and judge it off of that!

bows Please take care of my story, I leave it in your hands!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	2. Beginnings of Legends

Wow...

A lot of you liked my new version! I worked really hard on this new chapter so I hope that you like it. I decided to tie in a lot of people and events and circumstances. I hope you can catch on to who the people are! I give away a couple names, but that is it. I know I might be wrong but I used the word Doujutsu... I think that is how it is spelt and just incase you _don't_ know what that is, its eye blood traits that the Uchiha's and Hyuuga's have.

Well I hope you like this chapter. It is mostly for you to see Marrow's personality and to get to know her a bit more since she isn't in the old version a lot. She is one of my main characters this time and I want you to know her and the other siblings better then before. I am going to write the translations to the words in Japanese at the bottom. Even the ones from last chapter.

Review and tell me what you think. By the way, thanks for all the reviews! Some of you gave me very cute ideas. So just to say it now: Gaara is going to be a bit more clingy to Naruto. ^_^ I hope that makes someone's day!

Enjoy!!

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**_Redefined_  
**

**Chapter 2**

_Beginnings of Legends_

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

To many, the woman that was walking down the streets in the strange outfit that hid every aspect of her body save her sapphire blue eyes, was just another strange person that came to visit the very busy streets of Konoha. But to the few that actually realized _who _she was, knew that this visit would have life altering events following.

She had a hard gaze as she stared at the humans before her. Most humans were worthless to her, few actually having any value to her what-so-ever. They were greedy and selfish and looking out for number one- themselves. Or at least, those who she usually got mixed up with were like that. But she also knew that some were selfless and kind.

That was her very reason of visiting her birthplace- to bless those she saw as different.

She wore a cowl on her head, hiding her face from the people round her; that was a blessing because they would have scowled at her wolfish smirk. The Kyuubi- who had gained her attention a few days back- was dead. Her smirk became even wider.

The Kyuubi? Dead? By the hands of a moral? HA!

The very idea was laughable, no mortal being could _kill_ a Youkai lord. If anything there was just one more Jinchuuriki in the world.

One more weapon to be misused and thrown away once their usefulness had run out.

The thought pained her as she subconsciously touched her stomach. She could feel the secondary chakra burn in sorrow, it hurt her to know someone else had to be placed in that position. She knew that she no longer was in the category of Jinchuuriki…

But…

She could feel for him.

She snapped out of that mindset. She had things she needed to do and that could wait. If she knew Hiruzen Sarutobi, the child would be alright. But something her secondary soul nagged her to check up on the old man eventually.

Right, after her tasks she would spend a few moments with Hiruzen-kun.

With that she continued on her way to her first stop.

The hospital had always been something that left a bad taste in her mouth, but at the same time, the first place she always went to. People there usually needed a little help and if they lived up to her high standard of pure soul, she would assist and bless them.

No one ever seemed to see her as she walked down the halls, her trained eyes searching for those very special auras. Then again, she was using very powerful genjutsus that even a Sharingan user would have problems seeing though. She didn't miss a beat as she heard a baby crying. Her ears led her to the room and low and behold there laid a baby with an aura shimmering beautifully.

It was a green aura with fluxutating yellow and pure white tendrils whipping around the other colors. Pure innocents and loyalty as well as determination. This child would receive her blessings.

"I don't know what is wrong," a medic complained as he looked at the crying baby, "He's perfectly fine, yet he screams like he's in pain."

"Perhaps we should go ask the advice from the head medic to see if they know." A nurse said as she set down the clipboard.

Both nodded and left the baby in the room along with his medical charts. A simple genjutsu on the camera inside and a swift shutting of the door and the white clad woman was home free. She looked at the charts and noted that it wasn't something physical that harmed the baby.

**_'You need to see what most eyes cannot see puppy,'_** A voice told her in her head.

She didn't argue as she activated her eyes into a mix of her two doujutsus. Her eyes turned a pearl lavender color with three tomes in each eye spinning to see what was wrong. It didn't take her more then a second to realize that the child's chakra was killing it.

It's chakra coils had split and leaked out his chakra in a painful manner that most could not see. Her gaze softened as she rested her hand on the baby's tummy and pushed her healing chakra into its coils and sealed up the leak.

He immediately stopped crying and looked at her with his big black eyes and smiled. He was easily only a year old, but his eyebrows already were attempting to take over his face. She released her doujutsu and lovingly look down at him with her blue eyes.

"Do not cry little one, you shall live. But with this life comes great cost," She told the baby, knowing he didn't understand.

But that was how her blessings were made, by sound and words. Like how hand signs are used to summon chakra into a jutsu, her words formed her blessings.

"But take heart, you will find great strength that no mortal can match. All you need to do is hold tight to the things you hold precious and never give up just because the odds are against you. That is my blessing to you little one. Grow up to be a man of high standards and a giant selfless heart."

The baby giggled and laughed as she withdrew her hand from his tummy and left the room to search for another soul in need. She could hear the confused sounds of the medics as they returned moments later to a happy baby boy.

Her eyes searched for another aura. Not many adults had that special tendrils of light or it would dim over time. So as she continued down the hall she almost gave a yelp of joy when she found another one. It was a baby yet again that had been badly burned. The mother had cried herself to sleep and the baby was on life support.

Her aura was beautiful though. It danced with different shades of red and pink and the radiating white tendrils. An innocent heart that would have lots of love and compassion to all and yearn for the undying love of another. Marrow looked at the burn scars of the baby and looked at the jade eye that was open, looking at her helplessly.

**_'This child can see you Marrow. She will be a great genjutsu mistress one day. Heal her so she may live without being held back.'_**

Marrow nodded as she cast yet another genjutsu and made sure the mother would not wake. She looked at the baby girl and pulled her out of the crib she laid in. She slowly pulled the tube out of the baby's throat and let her powerful chakra lap over the child in a healing glow. The baby just continued to stare at her.

Slowly her breathing became less labored and with each gentle wave of chakra, her face became soft and gentle once more until she looked like what a baby should be. Her forehead a little large, but nothing too terrible.

"Be brave little one, for you shall be like a swan. Many may tease you for your forehead when you are a gosling, but you will have the last laugh when you become an elegant swan. May your hair become a testament to your soul and may you learn to heal and protect those you hold close. Never give up when it looks like you will not win and in the ways of love… may you find someone who _truly_ loves you for you." She said as she blessed the baby, setting her in her crib once more, "And may your spiritual control be like no other and see through things that are not really there."

With that she left the room and went back to scanning the hospital rooms. She heard the mother shriek with joy as she awakened to see her baby all healed and praising the heavens for her. Marrow just smiled as she nodded her approval and headed down the next hall.

Soon she exited the hall, giving one more blessing to an old woman that was dying and began to search her living relatives compounds for any pure of heart.

* * *

She was never one to think that anyone born under the Hyuuga or Uchiha name could have pure souls, but she was proved wrong.

Upon entering the forests of the Uchiha clan she saw a small boy training his hardest. He was out of breath and looking a little worn for wear. He had been training there for hours and nothing seemed to be going his way.

"I can't give up," He yelled to himself as he threw another five kunai.

His aura was an interesting one. It had many colors in it, making it look like a rainbow of colors along with the white tendrils that she specifically looked for. She could tell he was loyal, a truth seeker, wise beyond his years, loving, and willing to see with eyes unclouded.

"It's pointless to train yourself down to the bone alone. You need some guidance," Marrow said, making herself visible to him.

He looked at her with his onyx eyes before sitting where he stood and watched her.

"Then if I need guidance, are you willing to give it? My father won't even look at me let alone take time out of his busy day to _teach_ me."

Marrow smiled under her cowl as she moved to him and sat down in front of him.

"I am not of the Uchiha clan, why do you wish to learn from _me_?" She tested him, looking to see what she wanted to know.

"Just because you are not an Uchiha doesn't mean you have nothing to teach. The other Uchihas are fools for thinking them better then everyone else." The boy glowered as he looked at her eyes, "You seem to be wise and I wish only to learn from the wise."

Marrow then did something she would not do again for Uchiha; she took off her cowl and let her face be seen. Her hair was a healthy golden blonde color that was rare and exotic to the village, only Namikaze had been seen with. Her face was pure and unmarred by any scars. Her eyes lined with black demon markings that could easily be disguised as eyeliner, the inner line of her lips black like a wolves, and her ears slightly at a point.

"Who would you give your loyalty to? One who demands it? Or the one that deserves it?"

The boy took in her appearance before squirming about with the question.

"The one that deserves it, but how would I know who he is?" He finally replied as he looked at her, "I cannot see a person's heart. I fear I would maybe make a bad decision due to poor judgment of character."

Marrow smiled a lovely smile as she lifted her hands to his temples. Her hands glowed as she looked him in the eye and began to speak once more.

"To you I give so much more then I usually give. I give you the gift to see a person's aura. So that you may judge whether or not to give them their trust. I also give you eyes that will help you further yourself in life, but I warn now, learn things on your own an do not copy from your allies. Give your loyalty to only those who deserve it and have the will to punish the guilty. See with eyes unclouded with hate. Use your chakra to its fullest and use your wit to its maximum and do not forget to love. I pray we met again one day."

With that she released her hold on his temples and he gasped as he looked at her, Sharingan shining bright crimson in pure shock.

"Thank you my lady," He said with a grin, "From now on I shall only serve those with something in common with your aura."

"The white tendrils are what you should look for," She said sweetly, "As well as bright colors. If a soul has dull and blackened colors, stay away. That is my warning to you."

"Arigato," He said with a nod, "May I be able to live up to those standards."

She put the cowl back on as stared at him a moment longer, "Hn… May we all live up to those standards, young Uchiha…"

And with that she disappeared, leaving a boy with a mind wide open and a gaze that took in everything around him.

"Hn," He said as he looked over at the kunais.

He could see that his miscalculation was as he picked them up and threw them again, this time hitting the mark perfectly. He smirked at that. Whoever she was had calmed his mind and allowed him to think clearly. A gift he would never waste.

"Itachi-chan!" Someone called, "Time for lunch!"

"Hn…" was all the child said as he headed back to his home.

Marrow once again was on the move. No other Uchiha had that light- surprise surprise- and thus she moved towards the Hyuuga compound. She scanned the streets for any sign of the special aura and was surprised to come across yet another one.

_'Konoha has a lot this time. The younger generation is perhaps worthier then the old,'_ She thought as she observed the child.

At the moment, the young girl with dark purple hair and chocolate brown eyes was getting a thrashing by the people in the streets. Many spewing names like 'Snake-traitor's wench' and 'Snake whore'. Marrow immediately corrected this as she grabbed on of the men's arm and snapped it in half, allowing his bone to jut out.

He screamed in pain as he pulled back and she scooped up the child in that moment and began to walk away from the crowd.

"Get back here you wench!"

Marrow stopped and turned to look at them, flaring her killer intent to the point that the group soiled themselves.

"Beating a child makes you the monsters. Leave her be or I will do more then just break an arm," Marrow hissed.

She turned back around and walked away, still holding the child who was crying into her garbs. She found a nice quiet dango shop and ordered the child several sticks as she observed her. Her aura was strange. Yes, she had with white tendrils that she was looking for but her aura was dingy and darker then a normal aura would be.

"Tell me about yourself little one. You are not like most I've encountered."

"I was the apprentice of Orochimaru, but he left me for dead in a shack somewhere and I was found and taken back here only a few months ago. I can't remember anything else, but he left his curse mark on me," She said as she showed her the mark on her neck.

"I presume this is why your aura is dingy," Marrow said as she laid her fingers to rest on the mark.

"My aura is not dingy," The girl snapped, not really understanding what the strange woman meant, "I don't even know why I told you all that!"

"When people are around me they have a habit of letting their tongue wag a bit. Now hold still little one."

Marrow pumped some of her chakra into the curse seal and watched as the colors became bright once more, making it very clear what kind of person she was. She was loyal, determined, a truth seeker, and compassionate. Marrow smiled as she released her touch and stared at the girls eyes.

"I cannot remove the seal, but I made it as dormant as I could. Only cases of extreme anger or hate will make it flare and only in the presence of he who gave it to you as well. You will be a grand truth seeker. Never let anyone bother you about other's deeds, know who you are and be content in that. One day perhaps you will have a chance encounter with you true love and repeat the encounters time and time again. Be brave for you have the makings of a fine Youkai mate."

The girl just blinked, not understanding once again what this woman was spewing but nodded her head.

"Thanks," she murmured as she grabbed a dango stick and chomped down on it, "For helping me and these Dango sticks, these are really good!"

"Your welcome child, now I must be on my way," Marrow said as she got up to leave, "And if you wish for revenge, keep the seal at bay by your own will power. That will be an insult to his face."

"Will do," the girl cheered as she grabbed another stick.

Marrow just had to laugh as she left the shop and continued her way to the Hyuuga compound. That was her last stop before visiting Hiruzen and she was getting rather excited to see her old friend.

Soon she was at the Hyuuga compound and was given another surprise. Two more special auras were waiting for her and in the same room.

Hizashi, as she recalled his name to be, was probably the only man she had ever met that had that special aura. Most out grew it unless she blessed them, but here was a full grown man with that aura. He was cradling a baby girl that was whimpering and a young boy that was sitting in his lap.

"I have never found someone as old as you with such a pure aura," She whispered, making herself known to him.

The Hyuuga snapped his attention up at the white garbed woman and almost had a heart attack.

"Marrow-sama," He stated in a stunned voice.

"So you know who I am and why I am here?" She asked bemused at his reaction.

"You are here to bless those of a pure soul. Pray tell, who in this room has it?"

"You and the baby girl, Hizashi-chan," she replied.

"I am no longer a child, Marrow-sama, so please do not call me chan."

"You are a child to me little one and you will never be older then me. Now allow me to bless you and the girl."

Hizashi looked down at the boy who was just staring at her before looking back up at Marrow.

"Please, give your blessings to Hinata, but give my blessing to my son, Neji." Hizashi requested as he handed out both children to her.

That shocked Marrow.

Never in all her life had someone given up their blessing to another.

She smiled as she looked at the three, taking the two children and cuddling them.

"Hinata-chan, you will be anything you put your heart to. You may be scare or want to go back, but never quit and you will become like those you love and admire. If your heart ever fails you, I pray that you be given another so that you may stay strong and live to your nindo. Do not think that just because there is one way of doing things that there is not another." She then turned her attention to Neji.

"Never before has someone given up their blessing for another. You are very lucky to have your father. Treasure him and his teachings. Let your eyes be open wide and take in all you can. Trust your friends with your life and do not waver in the truth. If fate leads you somewhere you do not like, break free from it and become your own person."

She handed back both babies and smiled at Hizashi, "Tell no one of our meeting."

"As you wish Marrow-sama… and… thank you… for giving it to my son. He will need it more then I," Hizashi said with a small smile.

"You will die in the years to come. Treasure every moment you can with your son." Marrow warned before disappearing.

She only had one last place to go.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen was an old man who had lived to see every Hokage there was rule. Senju Hashirama, the Shodai Hokage; Senju Hidekatsu, the Nidaime Hokage; and Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage. He himself being the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. He had seen legends born and heroes fall, in both uses of the term.

However, though he may have seen it all, it never made choices any easier. Especially when said choice was the fate of a child. He sighed as he looked at the baby he held. The young boy had been sleeping peacefully for a while, something easing it into the sleep despite the heavy pressure thickening the air.

He had already come to terms that the Sarutobi clan could not take him in. The people would throw a fit that it was favoritism and that may lead to a civil war. Danzo had wanted to raise the child, but that would have only led to the boy being used as a living weapon.

He was a hero, darn it! He should have people begging to raise him, but instead they all are ready to kill him. He had asked Jiraiya to take care of the child, but he was always on the move and couldn't put down his spy network long enough without complications coming up. Kakashi was too young, though he did request the child. Tsunade was gone as well as her apprentice. It looked like the only place Naruto could live was the orphanage.

He sighed again as he used a finger to lightly brush the whisker marks of the young child. The boy awakened to the touch and stared at him with his sapphire blue eyes. He had only seen those eyes on a Namikaze –which was a distant branch member of the Senju clan –and his old friend, Senju Marr.

She had been different. He could still remember her voice and laughter. Her eyes boring into your very soul. She probably had been the greatest part of growing up. He could still remember the first time he had met her.

_Hiruzen dashed down the street. He was late again to practice with Senju-sensei. Koharu and Homura were probably going to tease him to no end over being late once again. He gritted his teeth as he thought of it. _

_They always teased him and his dreams of becoming the next Hokage, but he would show them. He'd be just like his sensei one day. _

_Hiruzen soon become lost in thought and was no longer paying attention to the road in front of him. He didn't even realize the blonde coming out of gate of the Senju compound until he crashed into her._

_"I'm so sorry!" He squealed as he jumped up and off of her._

_She just stared at him before nodding lightly and getting up to be on her way. The surprised Hiruzen. Never before had someone just accepted his apology without making a fuss about it. His training forgotten as he stared at the older teen._

_She had a hourglass figure that was dressed in a simple kimono. The kimono sporting a deep slate blue and the obi being a lighter shade of the slate blue adorned with a black floral design. Her eyes were the color of the riches sapphires and her hair was golden and silky. She did have strange markings though, like the black line that appeared on her inner lip and the thick eyeliner like markings, but other then that she looked like a simple girl._

_"Are you a Senju?" He asked a little confused, "Because I've never seen you before when my team comes in to visit."_

_She looked at him a bit more before cocking her head slightly, "You are speaking to me?"_

_"Yes," Hiruzen said as he looked around the empty street, "There's no one else."_

_She smiled at that, her face glowing in her joy as she gave him a toothy smile._

_Wow… she had some sharp canines._

_"Yes, I am a Senju. I just moved here actually. I've been living in the other clans that once claimed me family, but they decided to let me move in here." She said as she looked at him interestedly, "What is your name, mortal?"_

_Hiruzen just stared at her for a minute. Why in the world did she call him mortal? Was that a speaking quirk?_

_"Sarutobi Hiruzen," he finally replied, "What's your full name, Senju?"_

_The girl gave him a wolfish grin. She really did have a smile that could be compared to a wolf's with the black inner lips. Her eyes sparked as if this was a real gift._

_"I am Senju Marr." She chimed, "I am to be legally one in a few days."_

_"Legally? You mean you weren't before hand?" Hiruzen asked, clearly trying to figure her out._

_"Hai," She said with a nod, "I was kicked out of the Uchiha clan earlier this month. And the Hyuuga clan about three years ago."_

_Hiruzen gapped. This was the infamous Marr. She was known for her intelligence and insubordination to the clans. She was of a free spirit that none of the prominent clans were supposedly be able to tame._

_"You're _the_ Marr?"_

_Her grin widened if that was possible, "The one and only. Now pray tell, so you know where my Uncle is? The Shodai?"_

_"The Shodai!" Hiruzen yelped, remembering finally he was late, "He's going to make to run a hundred laps if I'm any later then I am now!"_

_"So you know where he is?" Marr asked, full of hope._

_"Yeah, he's my sensei. He's down at training ground 7. I got to go though cause I am super late!"_

_Marr just grabbed the teen by the shoulder and gave him a smile, "Then allow me to assist you."_

_With that she made a single hand sign for shushin no jutsu and both disappeared in a whirl of white plum petals and reappeared at the training field._

_"Marr," Hiruzen recognized as the Shodai's voice, "What are you doing here? And with my student no less."_

_Marr just gave him a grin as she began to seat herself and a tree instantly grew from the ground and made her an elegant chair. She was clearly not trying to show off, but that was just her way of acting._

_"I wanted to watch your team, Uncle. You said I could this morning when I asked. And sorry about Hiruzen-chan being late, that was my fault."_

_Homaru and Koharu were just staring at her while Hiruzen recomposed himself._

_"I'm not a little kid, don't call me chan," He warned her as he gave her a glare._

_She just eyed him and gave him a cocky smirk as she made a comeback._

_"You will always be younger then me Hiruzen-chan and until the day I see an adult where you stand, you will always be Hiruzen-chan."_

_"Fine Marr-chan," Hiruzen finally retorted, "but if you get to call me that, I get to call you blondie."_

_"Blondie? That's not very original." Marr said with a frown._

_The Shodai laughed as he gazed at his neice, "Be glad it's just blondie and not your _old_ nicknames."_

_"Aw, but I found that some of the names like 'hellcat', 'wolf-freak', and 'lycant' were very nice." Marr said with a small smile, "At least then if gave me the liberty to act like one."_

_"Marr-hime then," Hiruzen said, "Those other names are cruel and stupid. You should be treated with respect. You are of course the infamous Marr and a princess of mischief and pranks."_

_Marr couldn't help as she smiled even bigger, showing off her teeth in her wolfy grin, "Marr-hime it is then Hiruzen-chan."_

_The Shodai just smiled quietly as he saw Marr gain her very first human friend outside the family. Hiruzen didn't know how lucky he had been with this new friend. She was loyal to her friends to the very end._

_"I think this will be the start of a wonderful friendship," She whispered as she watched them while they began to train._

_"Hiruzen-chan…"_

"Hiruzen-chan," A voice said, pulling him out of his thoughts.

He looked up from the boy to see a white clad woman lounging on the chair that sat on the opposite side of the desk. He couldn't help but smile as he looked at those sapphire blue eyes.

"I'm surprised you kept the desk," She said motioning to the furniture in front of her, "I made it for my Uncle and I still can't believe it sits here today."

"There are a lot of fond memories at this desk," Sarutobi said as he patted it gently.

"You do realize that was where Tsunade-chan was conceived right? By the smell of it, that's also where that child was conceived." She stated in a deadpanned voice.

"I eat at this desk! I sleep on this desk! And you're telling me that people have been doing _that_ on this desk!?!" The Sandaime chocked, almost dropping the baby.

"Of course," Marrow said with a laugh, "Humans are always like that! Mating like little rabbits on all sorts of things and _don't_ get me started on Youkai."

"Please," Sarutobi twitched," don't. I think I might burn this now."

That made her laugh. Her pure sweet laugh that sounded of a thousand silvery bells to the old man. He could help but smile as he looked at his old friend.

"Marr-hime, what brings such a woman as yourself to my village?"

"I am giving out blessings to those of pure aura," Marrow said as she glanced down at the baby, "The child in your arms has a very special aura. I have never seen one as majestic as his. Raise him well."

Sarutobi looked at the little bundle he held in his arms and suddenly had a grand idea to all his troubles.

"Marr-hime, I know your eyes are still that magnificent blue, but is your hair that sunshine golden?" He asked as he continued to stare at the child.

Marrow just removed her cowl to show her old friend instead of having to answer. He stared at her with a warm smile as he stood and walked over to her.

"You are still as young and beautiful as the day we met." He said as he stared at her.

"I am immortal. Time has no hold on me," she explained to him yet again, "Honestly Hiruzen-chan, you'd think you'd remember that."

"You still look young enough to have a child," Sarutobi said with a wry smirk.

"I _have_ children," Marrow corrected him, not catching on to what he was talking about.

Hiruzen blinked a couple times as he stared at her, "When?"

"The night the Kyuubi was _sealed_." Marrow said with a smug look on her face.

Sarutobi's grin threatened to split his face. This worked out perfectly! If he could get her to agree, then the child could actually pass as her son until he was forgotten by Konoha and old enough to protect himself. But the hard part would be convincing Marr-hime.

"Well, it so happens that this child is the Kyuubi's container," The Sandaime said as he handed her the child, "He is Namikaze Naruto."

"Namikaze? Minato had a child, still not explains why the child was conceived on your desk," Marrow said as she cradled the child, looking at him with tender eyes.

Sarutobi repressed the urge to twitch. He was going to hurt that boy _and_ the Shodai's son when he met them again.

"Minato-san had been Yondaime all for a good year. Did you not hear of it?" Sarutobi questioned.

Marrow usually was up to date on information. In fact, she was his informant, loyal only to the Hokage himself. As long as she deemed the Hokage worthy of her loyalty, she would serve. And as long as she served, she was given free range, just like Jiraiya.

"I have not been in this realm for a good year and a half," Marrow said as she stroked the baby's cheek, "I was summoned by my Lord Howl and he had decided to allow me to finally bare children. It takes time to plan all these things and actually conceive. Once I was pregnant, I had to keep my pregnancy a good hidden secret so I had to disappear. So I am still catching up on the local gossip."

"I see." Sarutobi said as he sat on his desk, "This child was also born that night. He, however, has no living members of his family left."

Marrow paused as she stared down at the baby and back up at Sarutobi.

"I have a feeling where this is going and I am going to have to say no," Marrow said as she hurried to place the baby in his arms.

Sarutobi wouldn't take him back. He had his arms behind him and attempted to soothe the Hanyou into agreeing.

"He can't stay here. I cannot take him in and neither can his godfather," He argued calmly.

"Surely someone would want Namikaze's child! He is after all the _son_ of a Hokage!" She growled, making sure not to make the child cry.

"He cannot keep that name here and be safe," Hiruzen corrected her, "I was going to call him Uzumaki Naruto."

That threw Marrow back a bit. She herself had clan hopped. They all had wanted her a one point till they realized she was not one to be ordered about. She was headstrong with the will made of the strongest metal. Only did Senju invite her in as her own person and not as a trophy.

But this child was not even going to be given the chance to have a family, no matter how corrupt. He was to be alone. Oh, she had seen it before with the other Jinchuuriki around. They were social outcasts that no one wanted unless they were using them as living weapons.

"But again, someone will want him," Marrow argued again, "I mean, he's a Jinchuuriki… someone will want him."

"I have already set a rule in motion that will prohibit all people to talk about this child being the Jinchuuriki, none of his generation would know. He is to be put in an orphanage until he is old enough to become a ninja. That is all I can do for him without causing a civil war. I think it would be best if he disappears."

"But," Marrow was losing.

It didn't help that her maternal instincts were surfacing as she watched the child nuzzling her chest hungrily. He was giving into his instincts that told him she could provide food and love. She bit her lip unceremoniously as she looked at the baby pulling at her garbs to reach the milk he knew was there.

_'Has amazing instincts if he recognize me as someone able to supply what he needs,'_ Marr thought as she stared at his aura.

It was a beautiful gold and silver aura with several other colors that were drowned out by the metallic colors. The white tendrils she often looked for were there, but they were much more glorious then a normal mortal's. His laced in perfectly with the gold and silver and actual shimmered like pure light giving off the other colors of the rainbow.

He was extremely luck and able to change hearts just by being true to his. He was pure, innocent, intelligent, loving, compassionate, and so much more.

**_'He has the makings of a messenger, puppy. Take him and raise him. I know it'll be hard, but I see a bright future if you take him. There is something about him that is telling me to take him. Take him and give him a new name.' _ **Her Youkai soul told her, **_'He will be like us. A fine Hanyou.'_**

Marrow listened to the voice. She, of course, still had the final say, but she did not drown out the voice. It was Marrow of the Nightmare Gate's voice and if she had something to say, then it was worth Marr's time to hear it. She looked on more time at the baby and started into his azure eyes, drowning in them. His whisker marks very little and still surfacing, but she could feel he was at harmony with his prisoner.

Strange, the Kyuubi was said to be a proud old Kitsune Youkai that would not listen to anyone save his belated mate and his mother- the Mother of all Kitsune. She took that as a sign as she resigned herself to her fate with a sigh.

She sat on the chair and shifted her robes so the child could drink her milk while being decent in front of the old pervert.

"I will keep him." Marrow said as she started at his hair, "He holds great promise in picking up my line of work. But I will only take him under certain circumstances."

Sarutobi was already smirking his head off as he nodded vigorously, "Name them and I will see how I can help."

"First, he gets erased from the records."

"Deal."

"You make it sound as if you killed him off. Like… 'I disposed of him' or something. I don't want people looking for the child and coming across me as well."

"Done."

"I will be his mother and get the last say in everything about him until he is old enough to make his own decisions."

"Naturally."

"He will become of my kind. I shall not risk him being a mortal just to submit to some sort of sappy promising crap you humans do."

Sarutobi bit his lip on that one, but still forced a nod. It was rather hard to do since he wanted the child to have somewhat of a normal life, but with being a Hanyou, that was thrown out the window. Then again, living with one ruined normalcy immediately.

"And finally, I get to choose his new name."

"…You are not keeping his name Naruto?"

"Who names their children after ramen? I mean, it's apart of my large diet, but seriously… a fishcake?"

"It also means Maelstrom." Sarutobi defended.

"Yeah, it does, but still… Can't it be his middle name?"

"…Fine…"

She chewed on her lip for a moment as she discovered just how well the name Naruto actually fit him. There wasn't another name she could give him that described him any better. Even the fishcake part. He looked so cute! Cute enough to eat.

"Then his name will be…Kitakaze Naruto, but I'll usually call him Na, Nau, or Naru-chan. His shall also be known for his pure aura as Naruto no Byakko."

"North Wind Maelstrom. It fits I suppose," Sarutobi tested out loud with a grin, "So does Naruto of the white (spiritual) fox. I thought you didn't like his name."

"It grows on a person," Marrow grumbled as she continued to nurse him.

"Indeed it does," the Sandaime said with a cocky look.

"Well, I must be leaving now," Marrow said as she pulled the sated Naruto out of her grabs, which fell back into the position the had been in, and wrapped the cowl over her head again, "I could only stay for a bit."

Sarutobi weakened in his smile as he looked at the baby longingly, "Will you visit? For my sake? I wish to know the boy as he grows."

Marrow nodded as she looked at him exasperatedly, "Yes, I suppose I will return more often since I cannot deny you your request. But you'll be watching his siblings as well and you cannot complain. No matter how big of hellions they'll be."

Sarutobi grinned again as he looked at her in a grandfatherly way, "I'll be looking forward to it."

"Good," She said as she wrapped up Naruto so no one could see his face or recognize him, "Because there are four of them now."

"_Four_?" Sarutobi echoed.

"Of course. Wolves do not have 'a puppy', they have litters. Since I am a Hanyou though, I don't have as much as a normal Ookami Youkai would." Marrow said with a grin in her voice, "See you late Hiruzen-chan."

"See you later, Marr-hime."

And with that she was gone along with Kitakaze Naruto. The Sandaime looked relieved as he began to pick up the paperwork from his desk so he could work elsewhere until he could order a new desk. Naruto was safe. He would no longer have to suffer.

No matter how much Hiruzen wanted to believe in his dream of people being kind to Naruto, he knew that the boy would be beaten and treated poorly. It was for the best that Marr-hime had come and spirited him away. Now he had a chance to grow up with a family and be loved by people who didn't care what he was.

Sarutobi could feel this was the beginning of a brand new legend. A legend worth of generations to come and he could not help but grow excited about watching it all roll out. He finished moving a third stack when he heard a knock on the door and a white haired man peeked in.

"Sarutobi-sensei," The man said out of old habit, "Do you still have my godson with you? I want to say goodbye before I leave again."

"Sorry, Jiraiya, but I disposed of him properly. Please inform the records office that Uzumaki Naruto no longer exists. He is in a better place where no one will hurt him now."

And though it sounded cruel and awful…

It was the truth…

And that made Sarutobi Hiruzen smile inwardly.

* * *

So here is the rewritten chapter. Yes? No? Feel closer to Marrow? Tell me what you think oh great reviewers!!! I wish to know!!!

I almost did change his name, but decided against it last minute. Naruto is Naruto or Nau. Nothing could really replace it. I did leave off that part where he meets his brother and sisters, but that wasn't really needed. It felt right to cut that part out. Yes, it sort of took you away from learning about Ryuuki, but I will add more about him next chapter. Or maybe not... Not sure yet.

Okay so here are the words of the day:

_Ookami : wolf_

_-Hime : Princess_

_Kitakaze : North wind_

_Byakko : White fox (They are said to be spiritual)_

_Makurayami__ Total Darkness_

_Kisetsufuu__ : Seasonal winds_

If I missed one, tell me.

Shushin no jutsu : short distance teleportation jutsu. Theorized that the more chakra you pump in the farther you will go. Usually a swirl of leaves for Konoha shiobi, but is rumored to be different for the different villages. Example: Suna- sand, Konoha- leaves, Kumo - lightning

bows Please take care of my story, I leave it in your hands!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	3. Teaching the ways of a Messenger

Hey Readers!

Well I hope you like this chapter. It is mostly for you to see Marrow's and Ryuuki's personalities. Giving you a couple hints about Ryuuki's past, but not to much. But it is important to the story line. I also wanted do something a bit earlier so that Naruto's hanyou transformation is a bit more plausible. His mother has been turning him into one, but it is a slow process for someone like her.

Review and tell me what you think. By the way, thanks for all the reviews! Some of you gave me very cute ideas. Some of you hate the fact that I seem to be changing Naruto, but I am trying not to. I let the story go the way the characters lead me. Naruto has not been given the name Nau yet because his siblings were the ones who called him that the most.

Enjoy!!

* * *

**_Redefined_  
**

**Chapter 3**

_Teaching the ways of a Messenger_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

The blue eyes of the yearling baby sparked as he hungrily attached himself to his mother's bosom and sucked greedily.

"You," Marrow chuckled as she snuggled the baby, "are a pain. Everyone else is weaned _but_ you Naru-chan."

The baby just gave an innocent smile as he continued to feed. Marr just rolled her eyes as she glanced over to her mate. He was currently feeding their eldest son some baby food and it was not going well. It didn't help that he was blind and had to solely rely on his chakra pulse to know when his son's mouth was open, but their son was not having it.

"Come on Gale-chan," Ryuuki pleaded as he shot a exasperated look at his son, "Anastasia and Zeal ate theirs without complications."

"No," Marrow drawled, "Anastasia had a fit when I tried to feed her the squash. Zeal looked absolutely disgusted with it but ate it anyways. Gale is just not wanting any of it. He actually looks ready to cry."

"He does?" Ryuuki asked, turning his head her way to show the surprise written on his face, "Should I try something different?"

Marrow adjusted Naruto a bit as she stood up, still feeding the little hellion who grabbed on to her chest with his hands to keep his position, and walked over to Gale.

"Gale-chan," She purred as she bent down, "Do you want some applesauce?"

The child just shook his head no as he gently glared at her with his lovely mismatched eyes. The left eye was blue just like his mother's and Naruto's but the right eye was a golden yellow. Marrow just giggled as she picked him up with her other arm and buried her nose in his long golden locks.

He and Naruto could actually pass off as brothers. If Gale didn't have a yellow eye and had two lovely blue eyes, he could actually pass off as his mother as a young child. The only difference in their demon markings was the pair of three dots on each side of his face, starting a centimeter from corner of his eye and keeping the same distance under his eye with the dots getting smaller and smaller the closer to the nose they got.

She offered her milk, which just like Naruto, he accepted greedily.

"I though he was weaned." Ryuuki said rather confused.

"He is." Marrow laughed as she sat back down with her boys, "It's just he loves Naru-chan so much that he wants to do everything his brother does. So since Naruto refuses to get off the milk, as long as Gale sees it, he will refuse it as well."

"Talk about brotherly love," Ryuuki laughed as he resealed the jar of squash for another time.

"Well, not all brothers are as sadistic and backstabbing as yours," Marrow said with a bit of malice.

"Marr," Ryuuki said in a reprimanding tone, "Be nice. My brother did what he did because he thought he needed to. I could have struggled, but I gave my eyes to him freely. Just because I haven't actually ever seen you doesn't mean I don't love you."

"I know," Marrow sighed sadly as she looked at her husband, "But I worry that they will do the same. Or maybe Anastasia and Zeal. I don't want them trying to steal each other's eyes for power."

"And they won't," Ryuuki assured her as he leaned over and kissed her forehead, "Naruto loves his brother and though Anastasia and Zeal fight constantly, Zeal always comforts her little sister when she cries. Naruto does the same with his sisters as does Gale. They all love each other."

Naruto looked up from the bosom he was feeding on and was still hungry looking even though he had probably cleaned her diminishing supply from that side. Gale glanced at his brother's hungry glance and pulled away, feigning being full and wanting his father.

Ryuuki noticed his child's desire and took him from his mother's hold while Marr shifted Naruto to the other side.

"Well if that doesn't show how much he loves Naruto, nothing will," Marrow droned as she looked up at her husband, "Try chicken this time."

"Hai," Ryuuki said as he sat Gale back in the high chair and unsealed a jar of baby food that was chicken.

Gale and Naruto were the only two up. As a way to be able to handle the all four of the children, they were put down at different times and fed at different times. All would sleep at night and breakfast was the only meal they all ate together. It was like living hell. All four children crying for food, Naruto wanting milk, Gale wanting to copy Naruto if he saw it, Anastasia not wanting whatever Zeal was eating, and Zeal looking at her sister with an annoyed look.

And they were just yearlings! Imagine when they actually were more conscious of their thoughts and actions!

But Marrow wouldn't trade those moments for anything. She stared down at Naruto lovingly whose eyes were glued to hers. He never broke the gaze while he sated his hunger. Sapphire staring at sapphire. Wolf meets fox. Messenger watching her protégé.

Another perfect moment.

The moment was broken when Ryuuki gave out a strangled whimper. Marrow broke the stare-down and looked at her mate, immediately fighting off the bouts of laughter that threatened to surface. He had the chicken baby food _all_ over him- his hair, his face, his clothes- and Gale's face had a ring of the food around his mouth. He glared lightly at his father with a pout on his face.

"What did you do? Stick it up his nose?" She asked as she accidently giggled.

"Probably," Ryuuki sighed as he got up to clean himself off, "I didn't think children had such great aim."

"A Hanyou puppy does," Marrow snorted out.

"You were much easier to feed," Ryuuki said with a pout that matched his son's.

"Don't play that card. You fed me what? Once?"

"I fed you at least three times a week when your mother left you in my care for the night. I babysat you," Ryuuki retorted.

"How did she work that out? I mean, weren't you a missing nin?" Marrow asked as she pulled Naruto away from her bosom and made herself decent again.

Naruto whimpered for a moment before nuzzling into her collarbone and comforted himself with her touch. She rocked him gently as she nuzzled her face in his soft golden locks.

"Apparently I look different. Before I had raven black hair, slender build, and no demon markings," Ryuuki said matter-o-factly.

Marrow almost laughed. Almost.

Her husband had a sheepdog look since he didn't use his eyes to see. His hair was a chocolate brown and the tips were blonde and in his eyes. He had a second layer that was longer then the first layer and were wrapped up save the inch or two at the bottom near his thigh. His eyes were sewn shut and his demon markings were similar to his mate's. The eye markings were a bit thicker looking and he had two black lines go down his face diagonally stopping midway on his cheek. His build was thicker then most since he was a swordsman. He was tall and had a broad chest. His height helped him swing his large zanbato.

"No wonder no one ever recognized you, you are like a different man!" She teased with a wolfish grin.

He flashed one at her, knowing she had given him one.

"I am a Hanyou, not a man, young Marrow-chan."

"Hai, my Ryuuki-kun." Marrow said as she swiftly went to his side and kissed his cheek lovingly.

He smiled at her as he stood up to his full height and leaned his head down to show her his loving expression. She stood on her tip toes to give him a peck on the lips. He leaned his head down further to deepen the light kiss. However he pulled away when Naruto squealed his disagreement when he got smashed between them.

"Sorry," Marrow droned as she looked at him lovingly but with a teasing tone, "Guess you will have to wait for tonight."

"But I always have to wait," He teased back, throwing her a crooked grin, "Can't they just go down for a nap early?"

Marrow gave him swift kiss as she pulled back and lightly patted his face with her free hand, "If they go down now, they'll interrupt us later."

Ryuuki sent a pout to Naruto and then to Gale, "Lucky hanyou pups."

"Do not confuse Naruto, he is a kit," Marrow reprimanded, "It will be easier if he grows up knowing that."

"If you wish my hime," Ryuuki said as he nodded.

"Well, clean yourself up, I will play with the yearlings for another hour before putting them down for their n-a-p-t-i-m-e-s," Marrow said as she used a washcloth and cleaned off Gale's face before picking him up and taking her boys into the living area to play.

Ryuuki just sighed as he turned to the faucet and began to clean himself.

* * *

Marrow had just retrieved the toy from the shelf when a chakra flared at her door and a light knock was heard. Marrow just dropped the toy so the boys could crawl to it before striding over to the door. A hand on her thigh, ready to pull a kunai out and kill whoever might be behind the door just incase the mystery visitor was an enemy, she slowly pulled the door open a bit.

She blinked once before throwing the door open and bowing at her guests. Before her stood three very familiar Youkai. One was a male wolf, one a male lion, and the other was a female fox. Each took on a human form as they stood at the door.

The Ookami Youaki was a big, strong warrior like man. He had his pure white hair tied back and a huge scar running down his face and continuing down into his Yukata. He had armor on his chest and legs. He also had a strange weapon that looked like a claw and fang mixed together into the form of a sword. He had more wolfish features including wolf ears where human ears would be normally and 8 tails. His eyes a gentle blue that almost seemed icy like Anastasia.

The Raion Youkai was a bigger man is length and width. He was equally as strong but his chest was wider as well as his everything else. He had no ounce of fat on him and he dressed like a desert marauder and had a weapon that looked like huge claws on a pole. He had a thick mane of hair and markings on his forehead only a little bit above his eyebrows that were black and his goldenish eyes had dark mid-sized rings around them and connected to two strips running down the bridge of his nose and connecting to the dot on the tip of his nose. His lips had a thicker black line as well. He had a dark brown lion ears as well as a matching tails with a black tuft of fur attached at the end. He was a dark toned man that looked like a desert dweller.

The Kitsune Youkai was a female who seemed graceful and elegant in her gentle, attractive appearance. However, the distance the others gave her showed she was more then what she seemed. She had reddish eyes that had slight eyeliner like markings along with the three whisker tattoos on each side of her face that were slightly more defined then Naruto's. Her outfit was a Battle Kimono that was decorated with traditional inked cherry blossoms and several branches of the tree. Her hair was long and white in most areas but where it was tied at the bottom showed a hint of redish oranges color. She had a fan up to her face but was not waving. She had white ears with the same reddish orangish tip and nine fox tail that where most have black separating the red from the white tip she had the reddish orangish color. Out of all of them she seemed to be the one to fear the most. The fact that she didn't even have a weapon in reach or sight did help that assumption.

"Lord Howl, Lord Shiek, Lady Inari," Marrow address them with a bow as she gently lifted her hand in a wave motion to let them in, "It is an honor to have you here. Please, enter my house hold and rest yourselves."

Lord Howl laughed loudly as he walked up to his surrogate daughter, "Rise Marrow no Ookami. We are the intruders for not announcing our visit earlier so you could prepare. Plus, you are my daughter and need not bow."

Marrow straightened herself and gave her father like figure a wolf grin, "Ah, but remember, I am your surrogate daughter and still need to bow to the others, my Lord."

Lord Howl just sighed heavily as he pinched her cheek hard and held on while she yelped.

"Such a pain," He lamented as he pulled her into his hold, "Here my own flesh and blood denies her heritage as my daughter just to appease her own silly notions. Stop calling me Lord! I am Otou-san! Otou-san! Why can't you learn that?"

By that time he had begun to rub his cheek against hers affectionately while she squirmed in his hard grasp to break free.

That was when Ryuuki made his entrance into the room. He immediately recognized what had occurred and bowed.

"Lord Howl, Lord Shiek, Lady Inari, what brings you to our abode?"

"Call me Otou-san, darn it! What is wrong with you two? I give you special permission and you don't use it!" Howl whined as he held on tighter to Marrow.

"Arg! _Otou-san_! **AIR**!!" Marrow yelped as she squirmed a bit.

Howl immediately released and laughed a bit, rubbing the back of his head.

"Whoops, I forget you are Hanyou at times."

"Howl-san," Inari interrupted, "I know you are happy to see your daughter, but please, I wish to see Naruto and discuss his future."

"And I wish to get on with making my proposition," Sheik reminded him in his deep voice.

"Ah, yes," Howl said as he glanced over at the two boys who were just watching, "We are here on important matters that could no longer be put off."

"Shall I get Zeal and Anastasia?" Ryuuki offered as he faced Howl's direction.

"Yes, I wish to see all my grandchildren," Howl said with a nod, "I hear that little Anastasia has my eyes. Perhaps she will have some of my power."

"Perhaps she will by the grace of Marrow of the Nightmare Gates," Marrow said as she picked up her boys and offered Gale to Lord Howl and Naruto to Lady Inari.

Both took the child they were offered and Inari seemed rather adamant on looking Naruto all over. The child did nothing to stop her and even assisted when he could. She sniffed him warily before pulling him close to her and looking down at the blue-eyed child.

"He still is on milk?" She asked while Howl played gingerly with Gale.

"Can't seem to find anything he likes other then that," Marrow confessed with a shrug.

Inari smiled as she glanced at Marrow with a foxy grin on her face, "Have you tried ramen?"

"Ramen, my lady?"

Marrow knew what ramen was. Heck, she consumed it quite often because it was cheap and very filling- which was good since she had to eat large quantites to sate her hunger. Usually though she had it for dinner, a time when the children were already down for the night. When she and Ryuuki just needed to eat one more meal, but had already fulfilled the daily require nutrients they needed.

"Yes, I believe that he may take to that." Inari said with a grin, giddy about some inside joke.

"I will try my lady Inari. But may I ask why you are here? If I can be so bold?"

"I know about you taking him on as your student. However, I wish to make him my personal messenger," Inari finally said after looking him over once more, "He will need to become a two tailed hanyou, but with my power that will not take much."

"_Your_ messenger?" Marrow asked incredulously, "But Naruto is just a baby. He needs stability and taking him away from this family will cause a lot of heart ache."

Inari looked at Marr with an understanding stare. Marrow looked panicked. Apparently making one their messenger meant taking them away from their family. Or perhaps that was what happened to her.

"Be calm Marrow no Ookami," Inari said as she snuggled with Naruto, "I am not taking him from you. He needs someone to train him and raise him… Which is why I want you to do it."

"Me? Why not some fox?" Marrow said with a surprised look, "Not that I am complaining. Naruto is my son."

"I know," Inari said with a tender gaze, "I have been a mother to thousands of kits. I know the heartbreak when one passes on from this life and into the next. I would not take your child away from you."

Marrow calmed herself as she stared at gently at her adopted son, "Thank you Lady Inari."

"Think nothing of it," Inari said, "Now what have I heard about the name you have given him?"

"Naruto no Byakko. I believe that is the one you have heard of," Marrow said as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"You do realize you had no jurisdiction to name him. You are only allowed to name others by wolf names, not by fox names." Inari reminded her as she set her firm gaze on Marrow.

Marrow tried hard not to look guilty for her sins, but it was hard when the _Mother of all Kitsune_ was glaring at you.

"Do not worry," Inari said as she kissed Naruto's tummy, "It fits him and he is to be such."

Marrow grew relieved as the youkai continued to randomly kiss Naruto. He was giggling as she ticked him with her lips, but made no fuss otherwise. It wasn't until Marrow noticed the amount of Youki that was entering Naruto's body did she really understand what the Kitsune Youkai was doing.

She was giving Naruto some of her Youki in each of his chakra gates to awaken his hanyou side so he would already be a full blood Hanyou instead of the slow process he was already on.

And it was showing.

Naruto's ears were getting slightly more pointed and defined as well as his teeth getting sharper. _'No more milk for Naru-chan.'_ Marrow thought as she continued to watch the changes.

Suddenly, after Inari finished kissing the last chakra gate, two tails sprouted from his back and swished happily. Both were glorious white and seemed to reflect the colors of pure light. Inari just smiled as she kissed his whisker marks before handing him back over to Marrow, who was very shocked.

"Unlike wolves," Inari said as she played with a tail, "A fox's tails are its crowning glory and they usually are more visible."

"I see," Marr said with a shocked expression on her face, "Will they always be visible?"

"No," Inari answered as she tapped the tails twice and they disappeared from view, "Tap them with Youki to make them disappear and to pull them out tap his tail bone. He can do it too, but it is more of a mental connection, so he needs not tap. But until he is conscious of them, he will not be able to control their appearances or disappearances."

"I hate to interrupt," Lord Sheik said with a low rumble, "But I too have a request of you."

Ryuuki had just returned with the two baby girls. Zeal was blinking, trying to wake up, while Anastasia was rubbing her ice blue eyes with a cranky pout on her face.

"My two baby granddaughters," Howl yipped as he approached the two, but looked over his shoulder, "I too have a request Marrow, so hurry up and listen to Sheik-san's request."

"Hai, Lord Howl," Marrow said as she bowed.

If anyone heard him muttering about her not calling him Otou-san, they chose to ignore it.

"As you know," Sheik began with a strong but quiet tone as to not distress the yearlings, "You are the first Hanyou ever to take on such a role as you have. No other clan of Youkai has a messenger other then the Ookami."

"Yes your Lordship," Marr said, agreeing to what he had said, "No other has been given or taken on such a position. Most wouldn't know what to do even if they tried."

"That is why I would like to enroll a Raion hanyou as your apprentice."

Marrow fought herself not to drop Naruto who had currently managed to pull his tails out and was playing with them in an adorable manner in her arms as she wrapped her mind around what had been said. True, she usually wasn't this scared or surprised or shocked, but these were _Youkai Lords and Ladies_. They were leagues above her in power and in rank, but they were asking her to teach other Hanyou how to be _like_ her. Naruto was one thing, since he was her adopted son, but a different Lord of a different Kingdom?

"You… want me… to teach?" She managed to say after a moment.

"Just like you are teaching the kit, I wish you to teach a cub. The child is the only Hanyou in his family and it would be very promising if he had a future career instead of just being killed later on in life for being a male." Sheik said with a solemn look.

He wasn't joking.

"I too wish you to teach," Howl said as he looked away from the children he was playing with, "Marrow, your children were allowed to be conceived so that they may become like you, their mother. So even though I know it is difficult, the Youkai have recognized the usefulness of a messenger and almost all the clans want one now, but only few have the proper alliances to actually have one. Not only that, but we know that you have created some unwritten code of conduct for messengers and thus, you need to take on apprentices since you are the only one able to teach."

"But they are so young, can it now wait till they are older? More secure in their knowledge before throwing them into the battle field?" Marr asked.

"Of course, Marrow-san," Sheik said, booming with laughter, "We do not expect you to take them on today, right at this moment. None of them are ready yet, but we wished to ask ahead of time so that we could prepare the younglings. Would you teach your skills to the next generation of Hanyous Marrow no Ookami?"

Marrow looked about the room for a moment before looking down at Naruto. She had already planned on making him her protégé, but now her daughters and son?

Might as well.

But some other random cub one day that did not even belong in the same family as Foxes and Wolves? A _lion cub_. Could she really be willing to teach him as well. Lord Sheik said he would mostly likely die if he had no purpose, as all the male lions with out a pride usual do.

Yeah… She could take him on as well. She would just need to study up a bit about the rules of his clan before taking him in. She bit her lip as she looked up and back into the golden eyes of the Raion Youkai.

"I will do what you have asked of me with the best of my abilities. However, do not question my methods and do not scold me for my actions. I am teaching them how to be a messenger. A hanyou who dwells in both worlds. Human and Youkai."

"Very well," Lord Sheik said with a nod.

"I see not problem with it," Lady Inari said with a wink.

"Can I visit more often then?" Lord Howl asked as he looked away from the white haired child who was currently playing with his.

"So much for peaceful," Ryuuki said to himself with a grin.

He was happy.

And maybe… just maybe…

Naruto could finally be weaned from Marr's milk and begin eating baby food.

Not only that but,his mate was getting the recognition that she deserved, his children were going to have very promising lives, and she might be even more feisty tonight with all the excitement he could feel bubbling up in her.

He just hoped he could get the children down earlier tonight.

* * *

So here is the rewritten chapter. Yes? No? Feel closer to Marrow? Do you like Ryuuki better? How about Naruto's relationship with his family? Tell me what you think oh great reviewers!!! I wish to know!!!

Don't forget readers that Naruto is Naruto or Nau. Nothing could really replace it. I did leave off that part a lot about Zeal and Anastasia, but they come in more in the next chapter. For now they are more in the back ground and I wanted you to understand Gale's loving nature towards his brother. Yes. I did it during meal time, but that is why there is a T up there and not a K or K+.

Gale nice? Gale bad? Should I go back and make this chapter longer?

Okay so here are the words of the day:

_Ookami : Wolf_

_Raion: Lion_

_Kitsune: Fox_

_Inari: Goddess of the Foxes_

_Youkai: Demon_

_Hanyou: Half-Demon_

_-Hime : Princess_

_Kitakaze : North wind_

_Byakko : White fox (They are said to be spiritual)_

_Makurayami__ Total Darkness_

_Kisetsufuu__ : Seasonal winds_

If I missed one, tell me.

bows Please take care of my story, I leave it in your hands!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	4. Konoha meets the Hanyou Siblings

Hey Readers!

Okay, here is another chapter. Sorry it took so long but I had some difficulty thinking what they would be doing. So I decided to let them go to Konoha. This arc where they are in Konoha will consist mostly of just this chapter and one or two more chapters. Then it is off to Suna like everyone wants!

So here you go and enjoy! I will get the next chapter up as soon as I can. It's mostly in my head so no worries there.

Enjoy!!

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**_Redefined_  
**

**Chapter 4**

_Konoha meets the Hanyou Siblings_

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

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A matching set of azure blue eyes stared intensely into the two very different eye colors of the person before him.

He blinked, the other blinked. Matching him movement for movement. He moved his hands into the tora sign, the other swiftly matched it, so swiftly that it was like watching a mirror. Inu was next to be copied, then ryuu. The blue eyes narrowed as he watched the mismatched eyes of the other copy his expression. One equally as blue, the other a golden canary yellow.

"Gale-chan, Naru-chan, snack time," Marrow's voice called out from the kitchen.

Both children jumped slightly at the disturbance before giggling at the other's reaction.

"You are really good Gale-kun," Naruto said as he sat up, helping the other up with a hand.

"Thank you Nau-kun, you didn't have to play with me," Gale beamed with a bright smile on his face, emulating his mother's wolfish grin perfectly.

Naruto returned the smile with a foxy grin and put his chibi hands behind the back of his head.

"You're my big brother, why wouldn't I want to play with you?" Naruto asked with all the sincerity he had within his little body.

"Well," Gale muttered as he glanced down at the ground, "You like usually like playing with the other children in the village…"

Naruto blinked. He did play with the other children, but that was because he was just social. Usually they would get angry at his fast reflects and sharp senses and stop playing with him after they realized he always won. He didn't care since he usually never saw the same kids again, but he never thought it bothered his brother.

"Then why don't you join me next time?" Naruto asked as he cocked his head slightly as he grabbed his brother's hand.

Gale looked at him, slightly frazzled by the idea, "They'll make fun of me and say I'm a girl… like always…"

Naruto just cast his brother a small frown, feeling for him, before the moment was gone and he was leading his brother by the hand into the kitchen. It was a habit of his to hold onto his brother's hand and lead him.

"Forget about what other people say," Naruto said with a snort, "They are just foolish mortals trying to make themselves better by hurting your feelings. And you are a kind immortal, choosing to better the world they live in."

"And you say that _I _listen to Kaa-san too much," Gale said, already cheered up, "Nau-kun is just as good a listener."

Naruto only beamed as he held his brother's hand tighter as he looked back with determined eyes glowing at the thought that soon was to become verbal.

"I have to be because I am going to be the greatest Kitsune Messenger and reunite the Kitsune kingdom!"

His mother had only recently told him that there was diversity in the Kitsune kingdom. Different clans that made up the entirety of the kingdom would not affiliate with other clans since they were different. The arctic foxes did not affiliate with the brown foxes. The sliver foxes did not affiliate with the red foxes and so on and so on. But that was part of the job of a being Messenger, to keep the clans united under their kingdom. So Naruto had a big job ahead of him.

"That's a rather big job, Naru-chan," Marrow chuckled as she entered the room, resting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah," Naruto said with a slight pout, "But it's my dream! And I will accomplish it! Dattebayo!"

"Yeah!" Gale chirped in with a beaming grin, "Nau-kun is going to be the best messenger ever!"

"No," another voice said as a young girl stormed into the room, "I will be!"

She had ice blue eyes and pure snow-white hair. Her hair was in two high pigtails and a major pout on her flawless face, the only thing that marred it.

Marrow laughed lightly as she watched her children argue over their future. It only got funnier to her as her raven haired daughter with the canary golden eyes came into the room, glaring at her triplet sister.

"I highly doubt that _you_ could accomplish such a task if you are just all talk," Zeal said in an even tone, neither aggressive nor compassionate.

"I'm going to be the greatest messenger and be just like Kaa-san!" Anastasia proclaimed with a stern look on her face as she eyed Zeal, "Nau-kun can be the second best."

"If that's how you feel, Anastasia-hime, then I will be second to you," Naruto said with a small foxy grin.

"No! I will!!! Wait… what?" Anastasia asked in a surprised tone.

"You're my imouto," Naruto said with a shrug, "And I always want you to be happy."

That caused the albino child to instantly lighten her expression and clamp her mouth shut. She just stared at her brother for a second before nodding.

"Then I will repay the favor one day, Nau-nii-kun," Anastasia said before giving him a sweet smile.

"No worries then," Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head and flashed her one of his foxy grins, "Anastasia-hime always keeps her promises."

"Alright," Marrow laughed, interrupting the conversation between her children, "Time for lunch, then I have some exciting news for you."

All four children looked at her before looking at each other and then dashing into the kitchen to eat. Their mother's surprises were always cool. Last time she said she had a surprise, they all went to a grassy tundra and rode on the elephants!

And the time before that, they had gone to this island shaped like a crescent moon and met a king! He was so nice that he let them stay at the palace and told them stories and took them shopping and bought them games and toys.

So surprises usually ended up being really fun!

Ryuuki had barely enough time to set down the plates of food and move his hands out of harm's way before all four of the children began to gobble up to food with gusto.

"Excited are we?" Marrow asked as she watched them devour their food, even Zeal was eating faster then normal.

"Yeah!" Naruto said as he finished off his food first, made a grab for the glass of milk and greedily guzzled it down, "Kaa-san and Tou-san give us the best surprises!"

"Of course," Marrow teased with a wolf grin spreading across her face, "Your father and I have only had 80 years to plan out what kind of things we should do when we finally had children."

"Strange," Ryuuki chipped in, "I thought it was 90."

"No, Ryuuki-dana, you are ninety years, Marrow-hime is eighty," A wolf with chocolate brown fur with some streaks of blonde said from where she sat next her Master Ryuuki.

"That's right," Ryuuki agreed, "Thank you Alice, what would I do without you?"

"You'd be in trouble, Ryuuki-dana," was all Alice said.

By that time, all of the children had finished their meals and were staring at their parents expectantly. Marrow just laughed at their eager expressions and wipe away invisible laughing tears as she began to prepare herself for her small speech.

"As you all know, your sixth birthday is in 12 days. So, we will be traveling for about two days to your birthplace, Konoha."

"Our birthplace as well," Ryuuki chipped in with a smile.

"There is a festival the day of your birthday, so I asked my old friend if it would be alright if we stay there for two weeks and attend the festival. He was utterly delighted in the idea, so we will be staying with the Sarutobis during our visitation."

"Konoha is a shinobi village isn't it Kaa-san?" Gale asked as he cocked his head slightly to the side with a questioning look.

"That's right," Marrow said with a smile, "It is currently known as the most powerful shinobi village."

"Why?" Zeal asked, raising a brow in question.

"Because of the clans, my dear," Ryuuki replied, "In all of the hidden villages, there are people with special abilities known as Kekkei genkais. People with these abilities tend to create clans. Konohagakure is one of the few that hold their clans in reverence. Places like Mizugakure hold contempt for Kekkei genkai holders and try to wipe them out."

"So, because Konoha treat the kekkei genkais holders like some kind royalty, they flourish?" Naruto asked.

"Somewhat." Marrow corrected, "Now a days, the clans have become to arrogant in their powers and most look down on non-kekkei genkai citizen and shinobi. Not all clans were like that, but a lot. Mainly the Hyuugas and the Uchihas."

"But there are some who are kind and humble," a white wolf said as he came into the room.

"Yes Zet, there are _some,_ not many, few, a rarity." Marrow listed, trying to prove her point.

"You turned out fine, Marrow-hime and you were born of the three most prominent clans: Hyuuga, Senju, and Uchiha."

"So, if Kaa-san is born of the most prominent clans, why don't we live in Konoha?" Gale asked, looking around at their temporary home.

"I did live in Konoha for the first part of my life," Marrow explained as she looked at her children, "In my first sixteen years, I had live with each of those clans, and the only one that did not reject me was Senju. However, during my twenty-first year, Howl-sama came to me and asked of me to be a messenger. I was delighted in the idea, so I left with Ryuuki."

"But don't people wonder where you went?" Anastasia asked.

"No, my dear ones," Ryuuki responded, "All those who lived back then are either dead or very old. Other then legends about Marrow-hime, there was no proof that she lived. Wolves are very good at covering their tracks."

"So, ready your things, we are going to hit the road again. We have stayed here long enough." Marrow said, dismissing her children from the table.

All four of them scrambled out of the room to the hallway that their bedrooms were in and began to pack for their trip.

"Shouldn't we mention exactly why you left Konoha?" Ryuuki asked once the children where out of hearing range.

"No, not yet. When they are older they will understand, but for now, let them be children." Marrow said as she sighed heavily.

Konohagakure was already giving her a headache.

And she wasn't even there yet.

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Marrow sighed when the large gate came into view over the horizon. She patted the large wolf familiar she had been riding to calm her nerves a bit. Even from the distance, Konoha felt stagnant and decaying. It was a wonder really, since Konoha was know for its eccentric ninjas, that the village was so predictable.

Marrow could only hope this trip would not harm her little ones. She would have preferred to stay away as long as she could, but she couldn't do that to Hizuren.

He loved Naruto and wished to be apart of the boy's life.

So Marrow would deny her old friend nothing. Forget the consequences, she would always keep her word to that old man.

"Kaa-san," Naruto called out from the wolf he and Gale were riding, pointing excitedly to the gate, "Is that it?"

"Hai, Naru-chan, that is Konohagakure." Marrow said with a weak smile.

Ryuuki waved a motion and all the wolves stopped. The four children looked curiously at their parents to see if they could discover the answer.

"I am taking you to the gate, little ones," Ryuuki explained as he hopped off his riding wolf and grabbed the scrolls with his children's belongings, "And at the gate, Sarutobi-jiji will be there to get you."

"You're making it sound as if we are going in alone," Zeal said, her voice sounding slightly nervous.

"That is because you are," Marrow said, feeling her headache grow worse, "You have heard your Tou-san's and my opinion on Konoha. So now, you need to develop your own feelings for Konoha, so we are letting you go in without our biases getting in the way. Hizuren is a very good and very old friend of mine, he will take care of you and will explain Konohagakure to you in his own light."

"But we will be alone?" Gale asked weakly, paling at the thought of their parents not even being near.

"No," Ryuuki said as he collected Gale and Naruto in his arms, "Think of this… as… your first mission."

"First mission?" both Naruto and Anastasia chirped.

"Yes. I want you to learn about the different things of Konoha; their food, their culture, their people, their habits. And tell your mother and I when we pick you back up." Ryuuki explained as he also gathered Zeal and Anastasia in his arms.

"Okay," Naruto said, forgetting his uneasiness.

"This sounds fun!" Anastasia agreed as she hugged onto Zeal.

"Only cause Naruto is doing it," Gale muttered, holding onto his Tou-san's bicep.

"I'll do it just so Anastasia doesn't annoy me to death about it," Zeal finally said as she managed to free herself from Anastasia's hold.

Ryuuki chuckled as he drew his children near his mate, so she could kiss them goodbye. Marrow shot him a grateful look as she kissed each of her four children on the forehead and allowed her chakra to sweep over them for one last time before they headed in for two weeks.

Each of her children mimicked her affections and allowed their own chakra to sweep gently over her. With their goodbyes said to their mother, Ryuuki began to walk them to the gate, slowly so he could give them some last minute tips.

"Now, just because you will be in Konoha with Sarutobi-jiji does not allow you to throw off your work out schedule. The Sarutobi clan would not appreciate four overly hyper children ruining their peace. Say please and thank you, they are letting you into their house so be respectful of them. And remember your mission. I want to hear all about your time here when your Kaa-san and I pick you up. Got it?"

"Hai, Tou-san," all four said simultaneously.

"Good," Ryuuki said as he stopped right at the gate that had crept up on them.

True to Marrow's word, Sarutobi Hizuren was waiting at the gate. Ryuuki couldn't see the old man's expression, but his usually very controlled charka spiked in excitement when the five of them came into view. Ryuuki kept some distance from the gate, so that he could give his proper goodbyes and performed the same actions of his wife, children mimicking his farewells as well.

"Go have fun," Ryuuki said as he set them down and began to walk to the gate.

"Ryuuki-sama," The Sandaime stated as the large man gave him a bear hug, "How is your bride?"

"Same as ever. Konoha still brings her headaches," Ryuuki chuckled as he released the man and handed him the scrolls, "These are the little one's belongings. They know which ones are theirs and all about how to use the scrolls, so don't worry. They will introduce themselves once they feel more comfortable."

"Alright," Hizuren said as he accepted the scrolls.

"Be good," Ryuuki said to the four children who had just come to the gate, "Or Kaa-san will make the next trip like a day in hell."

"Yes, Tou-san," all four said in unison as they approached the kindly old man.

With that Ryuuki disappeared, leaving the watchmen on duty gapping at the very large swordsman's amazing speed.

Hizuren bent down as best as he could so he could be at level with the four children. It was apparent that the triplets all liked long hair, since each had their hair at least to the shoulder blades. Naruto, who he knew in a second's time because of the bold whisker marks adorning his face, had shorter hair, but still managed to barely put it in a high ponytail, so only his bangs and a few loose hairs were free to do as they pleased.

"My name is Sarutobi Hizuren," The Hokage introduced himself, "You may call me Jiji if you wish."

"Hi," Naruto immediately responded as he held his hand out to shake the man's hand, "I am Kitakaze Naruto, but my Kaa-san calls me Naru and my siblings call me Nau. I like Nau best, but you can call me whatever you like."

"Then I will call you Nau-chan," Hizuren smiled.

Gale was the next to introduce himself, because if Naruto liked the man, then the old man was good with him.

"I am Gale… My surname isn't Kitakaze like Nau-kun's, but my Kaa-san says not to say it in public."

"Nice to meet your acquaintance, young Gale-chan. You have quite a nice vocabulary there."

"I like to read," Gale said with a shrug.

Anastasia and Zeal made no effort to introduce themselves, so Sarutobi made no effort to force them.

"Well," He said, grunting as he stood back up, "Let's get you back to the complex and all situated. Then I will take you out for some food. My dear old friend mentioned you like ramen."

Sarutobi was greeted by four smiling faces.

He laughed as he motioned for the four children to follow. They all moved to his quick pace as if they were use to others moving faster then they. Then again Marrow-hime was their mother and she tended to do things like that.

The children, he noticed, were observing the streets that they were traveling through. This was probably their first time in a shinobi villages, so they were probably trying to figure out the differences.

"There's a park over there," Naruto said as he pointed to one of the larger playgrounds.

"Yes, would you like to go over there before we get some ramen?" Sarutobi asked as he still led them to his home.

"Yeah," Gale agreed, "Then we really will be hungry for our lunch."

"Kaa-san usually only let's us have ramen for one meal a day, so usually we eat it for dinner," Zeal remarked.

"Oh yeah," Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head, "That's usually because we eat large amounts of food."

"Oh," Sarutobi said, looking back at the children, "You have a set of rules?"

"Yeah, but Kaa-san probably put our instructions in the extra scroll you've got in your hand." Gale said as he pointed to the different colored scroll, "All our scrolls are colored so we know which is which. That one is Kaa-san's color, so it means that those are instructions written by her."

Sarutobi thanked the young child for the information and promised to look at it when they got to the complex. The rest of the time it took, which was about ten more minutes, was spent learning what color was whose. Naruto had the orange scrolls, Gale surprisingly had the pink, Anastasia had the white, and Zeal had the midnight black. Marrow's was left over and hers was slate blue. Sarutobi made a mental note of that.

"And Tou-san has a deep red," Naruto finished right when the got to the steps of the complex.

"Thank you," Sarutobi said as he opened the door, "I have never thought of picking a color to represent the owner."

"When you travel as much as we do, you have to or otherwise one might get someone else's things." Gale said with a small smile.

"I think that was why Gale started to wear my kimonos," Anastasia said with a laugh, "and why I started wearing pants."

"That wasn't it," Naruto defended, while they still followed Sarutobi, only subconsciously understanding that they had reached their destination and were in the front garden, "Gale has always worn that and you have always wanted to wear pants since you said you could move faster in them."

"And I wear male yukatas, not girl's kimonos!" Gale added with a pout.

"We are here," Sarutobi announced, tying to subtly break up the fight.

All four looked around, their faces showing how impressed by the ancient complex they were. It was a traditional Japanese complex with many houses in the gated area. The most amazing house being the one in the middle.

"Since you are my guest, you shall be staying with me in my home. So, come along."

Sarutobi took them into the grand old house that they all had been highly impressed with and greeted the servants who had waited at the door to welcome home their master and his little guests.

"These are the children of my old friend, Senju Marrow." That got a lot of eyes widening as the servants forced their mouths shut. "No one is to know that they are here, and no one is to know about their lineage. Respect them as you would respect me, no ill name calling or anything of the sort. I promised their mother that my clan would be a safe haven for her children."

With that he dismissed the servants and lead the children, who had bowed respectfully during their introduction, to their rooms.

From what he knew of Marrow. He guessed that the boys shared one room and the girls shared the other. Marrow was raised to do such.

"So, you lovely ladies will take the right room," Sarutobi said as he handed them the black and white scrolls.

"And you two gentlemen will take the left," He finished at handed them the pink and orange scrolls.

"And I will be down the hall to the left reading this scroll your mother left for me."

"If we need to find you, we will just look for your chakra signal," Anastasia said as she looked at the elderly man.

"You can already sense chakra?" Hizuren asked with a shocked look.

"Our dad is blind, he taught us how to do it because he want to make sure we could flare our chakra so he could find us." Zeal said with a nod, "I am Zeal by the way, but I would prefer you to call me Zel."

"And I'm Anastasia," the albino said as she crossed her arms and looked away slightly as if embarrassed, "Sorry we didn't tell you right away…"

"It is alright Anastasia-chan, I understand you did not feel comfortable with me yet," Hizuren said as he petted her hair, "Go get ready and we will go to the park and get some ramen."

"Can we bring a soccer ball? Cause we haven't been able to exercise yet." Naruto asked with a hopeful look.

"Of course you can," Sarutobi said with a smile.

All of them whooped and cheered for joy and went into the rooms to get ready. Sarutobi took that as his leave and headed towards his home office.

He reminisced a bit about the last time children had actually lived in his home. Not since his youngest son left to live with his wife across the complex. Now he had his very first grandson who was a teetering two year old.

He opened the scroll and almost chocked at the amount that was written. There were several things written but there were three rules he had to follow.

**1. They are to never to eat from someone else's plate, they have their own, and they cannot share if they have already begun to eat it. They know this rule, you just have to make sure no one else makes that mistake.**

**2. They have a morning schedule, they will do it whether or not you let them. So if you want, give them someone to play around with. Make sure it is someone who can survive them. Their routines are very complex so they need someone to help them with some of the routines.**

**Don't question my methods Hizuren… **(Using his name like that meant she meant it)

**3. They pull pranks and play well with others. But if they exchange fluids- even on accident- with a mortal, get the person to the hospital and ask the one who did the fluid exchange for the antidote. He or she will have it.**

The rest was about their behavior patterns and the fact that the four of them usually did not train together, but a couple of days would not cause harm as long as there was supervision.

One-sixth into it, he heard a light knock at his door to see all four kids ready to play. Each were wearing a pair of black pants with different tops. Gale had a mesh undershirt and a pale blue yukata on, Naruto had a dark orange mesh and a light orange t-shirt, Zeal had a long sleeved mesh under a sleeveless black tee, and Anastasia had on a white sleeveless mesh with a soft lavender tank top.

All their hair was up and out of the way and Naruto was even wearing a headband to keep his bang and stray hairs back.

"We're ready! Come on Jiji! We want to go play soccer!!"

"Alright, alright," Hizuren laughed as he took Gale's and Zeal's hands, "Let's go."

* * *

Naruto cheered happily as the park came into view. He looked over his shoulder to get an agreeing nod from Sarutobi-jiji and took off with his siblings in tow.

The park was large and had a open field with two goal posts already set up. A lot of children were playing on the play ground and the soccer field was completely empty.

Naruto noticed that Sarutobi-jiji was sitting on a bench were he could see the whole game.

"Okay," Anastasia said, calling the attention onto herself, "Usual teams?"

"Yeah, You and Zel-chan work best together just like Gale and me, so you choose your side and we'll go with the standard two on two rules."

"I'll be goalie," Zeal said to her sister as the albino just nodded her head.

"I will be goalie for our team, Nau-kun," Gale said with a smile.

He always had fun when his brother and sisters were able to play with him. He looked over a the kids on the playground and just hoped they wouldn't butt in rudely like the last time they had played in a heavily populated place.

Naruto just set the ball in the middle dot and looked at Anastasia.

"Princesses first, Princes second." He stated.

Gale readied himself behind his brother. Yes, he and Zeal were goalies, but they could leave the goalie box to play the game, they just couldn't pick up the ball unless they were in the goalie box in front of the goal they were suppose to protect.

Anastasia was the first one to allow a kick off. She knew that since there was just she and Zel that is would be impossible to send it off in one direction without Gale or Nau immediately obtaining the ball. However, she also knew that kicking it lightly foreword and then seizing it and sending it back to her sister was what her brothers expected.

She sent a glance back at her sister, who seemed to understand her opposite, and nodded once before setting her canary colored eyes on the ball. Zeal at that moment knew that her sister was going to pull something out there just so it threw everyone off.

Anastasia took in a deep breath before looking into the deeper colored eyes of her fox brother. He seemed set on stealing the ball the moment he could.

"Hope you and Gale-nii-kun have been practicing your tactics," Anastasia said coolly, "Because I am kicking it up a notch."

With that she slammed her foot onto the ball, making it jump up in the air, high enough for her to head butt it backwards into her sister's range. With that, the game was on and the four hanyous were using every trick they could manage to try to get that one spherical object into the other's net.

Sarutobi was actually awestruck as the game progressed. The four of them could really play the game well, even putting children way above their age and a lot of adults to shame.

Their movements were quick and to the point, though he did notice each child had some sort of technique to handling the ball.

Gale was looking more like a dancer practicing his movements than kicking a ball around. His turns were made in split seconds and with the most elegance he had ever seen. The boy himself looked as if he was doing so complex dance as he would sometimes make the ball jump into the air, bounce it off his head or shins, or even spin kick it into the goal. Even though the child did look a little out there with some of his fancier moves, he still made each of them work if his sisters didn't intervene.

Naruto too had his own way of handling the ball. His seemed more confusing and made the girls and even Gale unsure of what was going to happen. His whole outlook on his performance was well… a performance. He would deceive people into thinking he would do one thing and do a totally different move instead. His way was more of believing that all he was, was a bunch of tomfoolery.

He depended on perfect balance and the art of misleading. His turns appeared lazy, but were really sharp and precise in each movement and even really crisp.

One move, that Sarutobi realized made even the two girls cringe back, Naruto hopped onto the ball, balancing himself easily while moving a couple steps backwards _while_ still on the ball. Then he could lean off it just the right way that the ball would leap into the air as a response and he would ground his arms and swing his legs into the air and sending that ball off with enough power to knock any child less then a Hanyou unconscious.

It really was impressive.

Zeal had a more front about way of playing soccer. Her ways seemed predictable, but the problem was that no one, even though they moved to stop her predictable movement, could actually stop her that way. She would turn on a dime last minute and go a totally different way. Her brothers movements, compared to hers, looked slow and unpracticed. Hers was entirely about control of any situation.

Anastasia also was very original in her ways. Her element was surprise and speed. Her control was not as outstanding as her sister's, but her speed and ability to change direction in a blink of an eye spoke wonders for her. She would use her head, shins, chest, upper arms, heels, and even her shoulders to make sure that she had the ball going were she wanted it. Even Naruto couldn't catch this girl if she wasn't with the ball, that slowed her down enough to make her catchable.

What shocked Hizuren the most was all the children their little game was attracting. The playground was entirely empty now as all the children sat and watched these four hanyous play it up.

Sarutobi could even identify several of the clan children sitting there in awe.

"Hokage-sama," a controlled voice said not only a few feet away.

The old man did not even have to look to know that is was Itachi. He must have been taking his little brother, who now was one of the onlookers, to the park.

"Yes, Itachi-kun?" He replied rather happily.

Watching these lively children made even him feel wiry.

"Who are these children? I have never seen them before and their movements are like no other child without training I have ever seen. May I be to bold to ask who their parents are?"

That had to be one of the longest sentences the naturally quiet male had ever said to anyone, other then his little brother, willingly.

"They are an old friend of mine's children. They were born here, but my friend has wanderlust so I get them for a short time."

"How old are they?"

"They are to be six in ten days time."

"Hn," Itachi said, signifying his questions answered to his requirement.

"Perhaps your little brother would like to play with them. They are all kind, if not a little skittish. Well, Nau isn't but his siblings are."

"Perhaps. He seems quiet interested in their game."

"All of these children do," Hizuren laughed as he motioned at the blond Yamanaka girl holding on to the pink haired girl's hand nervously watching the teams.

"Then perhaps you should introduce them," Itachi deduced, "Just make sure you mention this to their families since their children are bound to tell them."

"I will Itachi, you can stop mothering me now," Sarutobi said as he cast a coy look to the ten year old.

"Hn," was all Itachi said as he cast his gaze away from his Hokage and pretended not to have heard the last part of what had been said.

Sarutobi couldn't help but laugh at the sound of groans heard throughout the peanut gallery as the game came to a close. Gale and Naruto winning by one point. The children looked slightly winded, but still able to bounce about with energy.

"Hey Jiji!" He heard Naruto yell loudly, being heard by all who were in the park, "When are we getting Ramen?"

That only made Sarutobi laugh harder.

Having Naruto back with him seemed to be as wonderful as he had hoped it would be.

* * *

So here is the rewritten chapter. Yes? No?

How do you like his siblings?

Their personalities? Do you like his relationships with them?

The sisters have finally been added. What do you think of them and their little quirks about each other. They are as different as can be, but still can pull off some of the best teamwork.

Gale nice? Gale bad?

Anastasia?

Zeal?

Let me know! I really love hearing back from you guys about what you think!

Okay so here are the words of the day:

_Ookami : Wolf_

_Raion: Lion_

_Kitsune: Fox_

_Inari: Goddess of the Foxes_

_Youkai: Demon_

_Hanyou: Half-Demon_

_-Hime : Princess_

_Kitakaze : North wind_

_Byakko : White fox (They are said to be spiritual)_

_Makurayami__ Total Darkness_

_Kisetsufuu__ : Seasonal winds_

If I missed one, tell me.

bows Please take care of my story, I leave it in your hands!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


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